Badminton: Yeo Jia Min wins Singapore's first Commonwealth Games women's singles medal since 2002

BIRMINGHAM - After clinching the winning point in the women's singles third-place play-off at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday (Aug 7), the usually mellow Yeo Jia Min let out a shout as she fell to the floor at the National Exhibition Centre.

With her 21-14, 22-20 victory over Scotland's world No. 17 Kirsty Gilmour, Yeo clinched her first individual medal of the year — a bronze — and Singapore's first in the women's singles at the Commonwealth Games since 2002.

The Republic's last medal in the event was the gold that Li Li won at the Manchester Games.

World No. 18 Yeo said: "I feel like this year hasn't been easy for me. I haven't been getting to the level that I want to play and I've been missing out on opportunities and I know that this opportunity in front of me is something I can grab so I just didn't want to lose this chance again.

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"Through the journey, there are little stepping stones and this is considered a good stepping stone for me, challenging the top players and now really believing that I can, so I hope I can bring it to the next competition."

At the previous edition of the Games on the Gold Coast in 2018, Yeo made it to the round of 16, where she lost 2-1 to India's Gadde Ruthvika Shivani.

Yeo, 23, wants to keep building on her feat, saying: "Definitely getting a medal for my country is something I want to achieve. It's been a fruitful week, whether I won or lost, I hope that I can go back and learn from every match and keep growing as an athlete in and out of the court."

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.