SINGAPORE – Nationwide shuttler Yeo Jia Min bought off to a tough begin in her Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals debut when she was overwhelmed 21-11, 21-14 by Japan’s world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi in 34 minutes on Wednesday (Dec 1).
Of their ladies’s singles Group B opener on the Bali Worldwide Conference Centre, the Japanese displayed extra exact shuttle management from the start, and by no means eased up in opposition to her Seventeenth-ranked opponent to increase her head-to-head report in opposition to the Singaporean to 4-1.
Within the different Group B match, South Korea’s world No. 6 An Se-young equally eased to a 21-16, 21-5 win over Thailand’s world No. 12 Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
Whatever the outcome, Yeo has already created historical past by turning into the primary Singaporean to qualify for the US$1.5 million (S$2.05 million) World Tour Finals which options the highest eight singles and doubles performers of the calendar 12 months.
The 22-year-old will play two extra round-robin matches in opposition to An and Busanan earlier than the highest two in every group advance to the semi-finals of the Dec 1-5 occasion. She is assured of no less than US$9,000 in prize cash and 4,800 rating factors.
Group A includes includes India’s world No. 7 P. V. Sindhu, Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong (tenth), Germany’s Yvonne Li (twenty fourth) and Denmark’s Line Christophersen (twenty seventh).