S'pore badminton player Yeo Jia Min gets surgery for bone deformity in her feet

Singapore national badminton player Yeo Jia Min revealed that she had been battling a structural bone deformity in both feet, causing her much pain since early 2024.

She recently had surgery for it, and is working towards a full recovery, she wrote in an Instagram post on Oct. 25.

Playing through pain

The Olympic shuttler shared that the deformity has been causing her insertional Achilles pain and bursitis.

Bursitis is the inflammation of the fluid-filled sacs that cushion the bones, muscles, and other tissues near the joints.

The pain was why she had to miss or withdraw from many competitions, and it plagued her throughout the Olympic qualification period and the Olympics.

Yeo competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics, finishing in the group stage and in the round of 16 respectively.

When the pain worsened in the middle of 2025, she took some time off to rest, but it kept coming back.

"It was frustrating, confusing, and difficult to understand why I couldn’t seem to get past it," she recalled.

A way forward

She only discovered the cause of the pain after the 2026 Asian Games.

“It turned out I had a structural bone deformity in both feet, contributing to the extra stress on my Achilles tendons,” she said.

She felt hopeful as she finally found "a way forward".

After undergoing bilateral Haglund’s deformity surgery on both feet, she promised to "do everything [she] can" to make a full recovery and hopefully return to the court.

She thanked her fans in advance for their support and patience as she works towards a comeback.