A year ago, Singapore’s Jia Min Yeo was looking down the barrel after five first-round exits in as many tournaments.
Jia Min managed to win the Polish Open International Challenge but didn’t have much to show for the rest of the season, making just four quarterfinals in the world tour events.
From a career-high ranking of 16 in 2022, she sunk to 37 at one stage as she could not beat any top-10 player in 14 attempts last year.
But now the tide is gradually turning.
The 24-year-old shuttler had advanced to the quarterfinals of the season-opening Malaysia Open Super 1000 recently, and is currently eyeing a title at the India Open Super 750 after progressing to the semifinals.
“There have been many down and low periods where I couldn’t find the right answers,” Jia Min said after entering the semifinal with her opponent An Se Young retiring with an injury.
“Pushing through and grinding, I just kept working hard in training and that’s where I could slowly find some improvements and hopefully from today I can keep getting better.”
She beat world No. 8 Han Yue in the second round of the Malaysia Open last week and recorded a win over world No. 7 Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall here.
With the Paris Olympics just six months away, Jia Min, a Tokyo Olympian, has reclaimed her spot in the world’s top 20.
“I think how I managed to get better is to just keep focusing on what’s next for me and what can I do and trying not to look back at the past too much.