National shuttler Yeo Jia Min got off to a rough start in her Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals debut when she was beaten 21-11, 21-14 by Japan's world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi in 34 minutes yesterday.
In their women's singles Group B opener in Bali, the Japanese displayed more precise shuttle control from the beginning to put Yeo on the back foot, and never eased up against her 17th-ranked opponent to extend her head-to-head record against the Singaporean to 4-1.
In the other Group B match, South Korea's world No. 6 An Se-young similarly eased to a 21-16, 21-5 win over Thailand's world No. 12 Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
Yeo said: "I realised my body is a bit fatigued right now, while Akane was stronger and able to pressure me very well.
"I will need to forget about today's match and be mentally stronger for my next match."
The 22-year-old is playing her sixth tournament in seven weeks, in which a final appearance at the Hylo Open in Germany and two quarter-final finishes at the French Open and Indonesia Masters have helped her jump 14 spots in the world rankings.
Yeo is the first Singaporean to qualify for the US$1.5 million (S$2.05 million) World Tour Finals, which feature the top eight singles and doubles performers of the calendar year.
She will play two more round-robin matches, against Busanan today and An tomorrow, before the top two in each group advance to the semi-finals of the Dec 1-5 event.
Yeo has a 1-1 record against the 25-year-old Thai, who beat her in the Nov 7 Hylo Open final.
National singles coach Kelvin Ho felt Yeo needs to improve in a few areas if she wants to break new ground at this event ahead of the Dec 12-19 World Championships in Spain. He said: "Jia Min could have done better today in terms of determination and fighting spirit to overcome the obstacles she faced, both physically and mentally.
"Moving forward, she needs to be patient against An and Busanan to increase her chances of doing well against them. She needs to fight hard and focus on the process."
In the men's draw, world No. 2 Kento Momota of Japan retired hurt in his opening match against India's Lakshya Sen.
In yesterday's World Championships draw, Yeo received a bye and will meet Scotland's world No. 21 Kirsty Gilmour or Japan's world No. 22 Aya Ohori in the round of 32, while compatriot Loh Kean Yew will face Denmark's world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the opening round in Huelva.
It is the third time in three months that the Singaporean will face the Danish Olympic champion. He lost both previous encounters, with the most recent being Sunday's Indonesia Open final.
WORLD TOUR FINALS
StarHub Ch201/204, 10am & 5pm
