Top badminton player advances at int’l tournament

Vietnam’s number-one badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh has advanced to the second round of the men’s singles at the ongoing Yonex Sunrise Vietnam Open 2012 tournament after easily beating Tuesday his Indonesian opponent Adi Pramata in the first round.

 

Nguyen Tien Minh, Vietnam's number-one badminton player, is pictured playing at London 2012 

The encounter started at 10:00 pm local time at Phan Dinh Phung Sports Hall in Ho Chi Minh City, three hours later than scheduled, but home audiences still stayed to cheer Minh in his opener.

In response to such enthusiasm, first-seeded Minh, numbered 14 in world rankings, took only 35 minutes to eliminate Pramata, world number 264, with a 2-0 win.

The Vietnamese quickly subdued his rival 21-7 in the first game before sealing the second 21-15, despite a spirited fight-back from the Indonesian.

Pramata used to be Minh’s training partner in preparation for the Vietnamese’s medal journey to the London 2012 Olympic Games, which concluded earlier this month. Minh was knocked out of the group stage at this sports event, however.

The first seed will play another Indonesian, Riyanto Subagja, who edged past Thai world number 147 Boonyakorn Thumpanichwong 2-1 (21-8, 21-15) the same day in the second round.

Yonex Sunrise Vietnam Open 2012 is a Grand-Prix-level tournament that will last until Sunday.

It includes five events: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.

The total prize money is USD50,000.

Tuoi Tre