SINGAPORE – Rising local shuttler Yeo Jia Min added another feather to her cap after she was named the world No 1 female junior on Thursday (June 8).

The 18-year-old displaced Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) junior world rankings to reach the top spot for the first time in her career. Juniors are defined as players under 19 years of age by the BWF.

This is the first time that a Singaporean shuttler has reached the top spot in the junior rankings ever since the BWF introduced it in 2011.

When contacted, Yeo told TODAY that she was heartened by the news as it is a reflection of her progress, but added that she is not fixated by the rankings.

“I don’t really look at my rankings, but my parents do and after training this afternoon, my mother texted me and congratulated for being world no. 1,” she said.

“I feel encouraged… I take it step by step and it’s something to continue to push me (to do better). I don’t aim (to do well specifically) for rankings, but it’s part of the process.

“I aim to do my best for every competition and whatever I’ve been working on (in training), I want to see the progress on court.”

Yeo, regarded as one of Singapore’s brightest badminton prospects, rose to world junior no. 2 at the start of this year after a stellar 2016 that saw her claim her first ever professional title at last July’s Yonex Sunrise Vietnam Grand Prix.

Earlier this March, Yeo won the Yonex Dutch Junior International crown for the third U-19 women’s singles title triumph of her career.

She dropped briefly to no. 3 in April but climbed back up one spot at the start of June, before rising to the summit earlier today.

She is currently 62nd on the women’s singles rankings, dropping from her 55th spot last month.

Yeo’s next assignment are two adult competitions, the Crown Group Australian Open from June 20-25 and the Yonex Open Taiwan from June 27 to July 2. That will be followed by the Asia Junior championships from July 22-30, before she heads for August’s SEA Games.

Former SEA Games and Commonwealth Games silver medalllist Derek Wong hailed Yeo’s rise to the top and said he believes that she has the ability and potential to go far in her playing career.

“Making it into the junior ranked No 1 is a great achievement. But it can only be a milestone,” he said.

“She has to think about how to convert that into being one of the very best in the world on the professional circuit.

“However, when I was in the national team and she was training together with the team, and her strength, speed, explosive power and her composure on court was quite remarkable. All she needed was to improve on her consistency and her knowledge of shuttle placement to further improve her game. She has worked on those areas and that has brought her to where she is today.

“I believe with the right mindset and given the right direction from the Singapore Badminton Association, she will be able to break into the top ranks in the world.”

Former national shuttler Ronald Susilo, who was once ranked world No 6 in the men’s singles, agreed.

“While it’s good that we have a world No 1 junior, at the end of the day, it’s how you go to the senior level and perform,” he said.

“Of course, she is still young and there’s so much to improve in order to get to the world class level.

“But, congratulations to her. What is important is for her to get to the senior level, and be able to compete at that level.

“If she can do that, it will be good for her, and for Singapore.

“Making the transition from junior to senior level is a big difference as the seniors are more mature, faster and stronger. In Singapore, there are currently not many sparring partners (to work with her), so it’s not going to be easy for her.”