Singapore’s top women’s singles badminton player Yeo Jia Min faces a three-to-six-month recovery period following surgery on Oct. 22 to correct Haglund’s deformity in both feet, an orthopedic condition that caused more than two years of persistent Achilles tendon pain, straitstimes.com reported.
The 27-year-old athlete underwent the procedure at Mount Elizabeth Hospital under Dr. Kevin Koo, director and senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon at The Bone and Joint Centre. Yeo shared a photograph on social media showing her legs heavily bandaged in a hospital bed, expressing relief at finally identifying the structural cause behind her prolonged physical struggles.
For more than two years, the former junior world No. 1 competed through chronic discomfort that hampered her training and tournament schedule. The condition affected her mobility, making walking difficult at times and forcing a reduction in her competitive calendar.
Tournament participation dropped significantly as the inflammation worsened. After playing in 25 tournaments in 2023, Yeo featured in 17 events in 2024 and 16 in 2025. She has competed in only 12 tournaments this season.
Achilles Pain Traced to Bony Enlargement
Haglund’s deformity involves a bony enlargement on the upper-rear portion of the heel bone, which places continuous, abnormal stress on the Achilles tendon. The structural issue triggered painful inflammation that failed to respond to rest, physical therapy, or strengthening routines.
In a social media statement, Yeo described the difficulty of managing the undiagnosed condition while trying to maintain her ranking and form. “Mid-2025, as I was closing in on my goal of reaching the world’s top 10, the pain worsened, and once again, I took a step back,” she wrote. “Despite rest, strengthening, and doing everything I was told to do, the pain kept coming back. It was frustrating, confusing and difficult to understand why I couldn’t seem to get past it.”
The physical toll directly impacted her world ranking. In 2024, she came within two points of reaching the quarter-finals at the Paris Olympics. A year later, she claimed the German Open title and climbed to a career-high ranking of 11th. However, following a last-16 defeat to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon at the Asian Games on Sept. 27, and a subsequent first-round exit at the Arctic Open in Finland in early October, her ranking dropped to 50th—her lowest position since 2019.
Following the operation, Yeo thanked her medical team and supporters, viewing the diagnosis as a turning point. “After so long searching for a way forward, this felt like a glimmer of hope,” she said. “I knew I had to give myself the best possible chance of returning to training and playing pain-free. Whatever lies ahead, to know I’ve done everything I could.”
Timeline for Los Angeles 2028 Qualification
National singles assistant head coach Kelvin Ho described the surgical intervention as a positive development for the player’s long-term career prospects, specifically pointing toward qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. He noted that discovering the pain stemmed from a verifiable structural issue provided mental relief compared to managing an unresolvable soft-tissue injury.
“By undergoing surgery promptly, she will save time in the long run, allowing her to recover and resume training well before the Olympic qualification period starts on May 3, 2027,” Ho said. “Free from this burden, she may be even more dedicated to her training and achieve new milestones.”
Injury Wave Sidelines Fellow Singapore Internationals
Yeo’s absence compounds a broader injury crisis facing Singapore’s elite badminton squad. Men’s singles world No. 11 Loh Kean Yew has been sidelined for weeks after aggravating an abdominal injury during his Asian Games final defeat to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in September.
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