Singapore badminton player and former world junior No. 1 Yeo Jia Min recently underwent surgery to address a bone deformity in both feet.
The 27-year-old badminton champion shared via Instagram yesterday (Oct 25) that she had undergone bilateral Haglund's deformity surgery after battling persistent pain.
Haglund's deformity is a condition characterised by a bony enlargement at the back of the heel, which can place additional stress on the Achilles tendon and surrounding tissue.
Yeo wrote that she first started experiencing Achilles pain and bursitis inflammation in early 2024.
The condition forced her to withdraw from or miss several competitions, while she also had to manage the pain throughout the Olympic qualification period and the Olympics.
It also hampered her pursuit of breaking into the world's top 10 ranking.
In her caption, she said, "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."
"It was frustrating, confusing and difficult to understand why I couldn't seem to get past it," she wrote.
Frustrated that the pain kept re-manifesting despite the rest and pain management that was advised, Yeo decided to seek further answers.
After the recent Asian Games, Yeo finally received an explanation for the recurring issue.
She said doctors discovered a structural bone deformity in both her feet - which over time, had added stress to her Achilles tendons.
Yeo recently competed in this year's Asian Games, held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, despite injury setbacks.
She shared on her Instagram that she was "barely able to walk into the gym" just nine weeks before the Games.
During the games, Yeo advanced to the women's singles round of 16 after beating Maldives 2-0 in a nail-biting match but was subsequently beaten out by her Thai opponent Ratchanok Intanon and was unable to advance further.
When sharing news of her surgery, Yeo said finally learning the cause of her pain felt like "a glimmer of hope" after a long search for answers.
She added that the diagnosis convinced her to undergo surgery and give herself "the best possible chance" of returning to training and playing pain-free.
"Whatever lies ahead, to know I've done everything I could," she wrote.
Calling it "another chapter" in her recovery journey, Yeo thanked fans for their "support and patience" as she works towards a comeback.
"I'll do everything I can to make a full recovery and, God willing, return to the court as the best version of myself," said Jia Min.
AsiaOne has reached out to Yeo Jia Min for more information.
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