Singapore shuttler Yeo Jia Min: Forget about win, focus on next match
Singapore shuttler chooses not to harp on her victory over Japan's world No. 1
Her stock has risen tremendously after a sensational victory over world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi on Tuesday.
But Singapore shuttler Yeo Jia Min does not wish to harp on the biggest triumph of her career - a 21-14, 21-18 win over the Japanese top seed at the Round of 32 of the BWF World Championships.
The world No. 32 prefers to keep her feet firmly on the ground after her stunning victory, which was sealed in just 39 minutes at the St Jakobshalle arena in Basel, Switzerland.
When asked yesterday how she was feeling after her win - dubbed the upset of the tournament by some commentators - the 20-year-old said that she will "forget about yesterday and focus on tomorrow".
"I'm focusing on preparing my body and mind for the next match," she said, after her training session. "Mentally preparing myself for the next match, which means forget about yesterday, focus on tomorrow."
She admitted that she has not watched much of today's opponent, Vietnam's 74th-ranked Vu Thi Trang, and will be focusing on her own "consistency in movement and stroke".
Said Yeo: " I haven't seen a lot of her game, but I think she is an all-round player ."
Vu, 27, defeated Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 on Tuesday.
Yeo might be keen to move on after claiming the biggest scalp of her career, but Tuesday's match was one that Yamaguchi, 22, won't forget in a hurry.
Speaking after her defeat, the top seed admitted that she was surprised by the powerful showing from the unseeded Yeo.
The Singaporean was on the front foot for most of the outing, racing away to a 16-6 lead in the first game, before closing it out at 21-14.
The second game was a much tighter affair, but Yeo, who lost 18-21, 21-8, 17-21 to Yamaguchi at April's Badminton Asia Championships in China, held on for a well-deserved victory.
"I could not get into my rhythm. I was surprised by the opponent and got lured into her style of playing," Yamaguchi said on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website.
"Also, I was playing the shuttle into areas where my opponent wanted it, instead of into difficult areas. Those are the main reasons for my loss."
Yamaguchi also played down talk that she was still hampered by a recent hip injury.
She said that her hip does not hurt any more, although it affected her preparation for the World Championships.
"I was not in peak condition and I did not reach some parts of the court as fast as I usually do.
"I didn't play fast enough and my smashes weren't effective enough. In the second game, I tried to play faster and to improve my tactics but, clearly, it wasn't enough to win."
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