Vietnamese badminton confidently steps into the world arena, hoping for Nguyen Thuy Linh

Remarkable efforts of Vietnamese badminton

At the most recent Badminton World Championship in 2023, Vietnam only had 2 players qualified to participate: Nguyen Thuy Linh (women's singles) and Nguyen Hai Dang (men's singles). This year, the number of Vietnamese badminton players qualified to participate tripled, with 6 athletes: Nguyen Thuy Linh, Vu Thi Trang (women's singles), Nguyen Hai Dang, Le Duc Phat (men's singles) and Tran Dinh Manh/Nguyen Dinh Hoang (men's doubles).

Photo: VBF

Mr. Khoa Trung Kien, in charge of the badminton department of the Vietnam Sports Administration, said that the efforts to compete in many international tournaments to accumulate points and improve rankings will help Vietnamese athletes qualify for the 2025 World Badminton Championship. Indonesian expert Hariawan Hong also accompanied and provided professional support to Vietnamese badminton players when they came to France to compete in this tournament.

The World Badminton Championships have the participation of all the strongest players, so the competition is very high. The Vietnamese badminton players have had the results of the draw, know their opponents and will try their best to get the best results. The tournament is also an opportunity for the Vietnamese badminton team to practice, aiming for the 33rd SEA Games taking place in Thailand this December.

Expectations Nguyen Thuy Linh

Nguyen Thuy Linh is the number 1 hope of Vietnamese badminton at this world championship. Ranked 22nd in the world, the number 1 Vietnamese player was not selected as the seed for the women's singles event, so she had to meet the number 10 seed, also the world's number 10 player Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) in the first match. The 30-year-old Ratchanok Intanon is the 2013 world badminton women's singles champion and has won gold medals at both the Asian and Southeast Asian tournaments. The opponent is very strong, but Nguyen Thuy Linh still has a chance. In the most recent encounter at the German Open last year, Thuy Linh made Ratchanok Intanon lose 0-2 (13/21, 15/21). The number 1 Vietnamese player has maintained a fairly stable performance and is likely to repeat her victory over the former world champion. If she can beat the Thai player, Thuy Linh promises to advance further in the women's singles. The best achievement of Vietnamese badminton at the world championship was the bronze medal in the men's singles by Nguyen Tien Minh in 2013, which is also Nguyen Thuy Linh's target.

Also in the women's singles, Vu Thi Trang (ranked 170th in the world) faced Ukrainian player Kantemyr (ranked 120th in the world) in the first match. The opponent was not too strong, which was an opportunity for the wife of player Nguyen Tien Minh to win a ticket to the next round.

In the men's singles, Nguyen Hai Dang (world rank 57) meets young Indonesian talent Alwi Farhan (world rank 23) while Le Duc Phat (world rank 69) faces Julien Carraggi (Belgium, world rank 59) so he has a higher chance of winning.

In the men's doubles, Tran Dinh Manh/Nguyen Dinh Hoang qualified for the world championship for the first time, so they set the goal of gaining experience and training. The men's doubles, the current champions of the Vietnam International Challenge badminton tournament, currently ranked 126th in the world, will face the pair Izak/Matheus (Brazil, ranked 116th in the world) in the first match.