Badminton

Việt Nam's Nguyễn Tiến Minh Nguyen hits a shot against Denmark's Anders Antonsen in their men's singles badminton group stage match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in July. Minh will present Việt Nam at the world championship in December in Spain. AFP/VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI - Việt Nam will send three best badminton players to compete at BWF World Championships at Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín in Huelva, Spain.

Couple Nguyễn Tiến Minh and Vũ Thị Trang and national female No 1 Nguyễn Thùy Linh will shoulder responsibility at the December 12-19 event.

Minh, who has been the country's number one player for more than two decades, will compete in the men's singles.

Currently world No 62, Minh will celebrate his 38th birthday days before the event. He has been Việt Nam's biggest hope at every international tournament for many years.

He has competed in the last four Olympics, setting a record for Việt Nam. He has collected many medals and his best results were a world bronze medal in 2013 and another bronze at the Asian championship in 2019.

He was defeated by China's legend Lin Dan in the first round of the 2019 world championship.

Minh's latest titles was at the Lagos International Badminton Classics 2019 in Nigeria, the YONEX Waikato International 2019 and the YONEX North Harbour International 2019, both in New Zealand.

At his fourth Olympics in Tokyo in July, the former world No 5 was stopped at the group level after two defeats.

Minh's wife, Trang, is the national No 2 women's single player.

She said she can't wait to represent Việt Nam at the world event after months of waiting for the sport to return following the COVID outbreak.

Trang was set in waiting mode for 21 months since her last match at the Austrian Open 2020. Earlier, in 2019, Trang won titles at the JE Wilson International Series in Ghana and the YONEX/K&D GRAPHICS International Challenge in the US.

At the 2019 championship in Switzerland, Trang was ousted in the last-16 round.

"I am really happy sport is allowed to  be organised again," said the world number 53. 

"For the past year, like many other athletes, I had to train in social distancing to either keep me safe from the pandemic or maintain my physique and technique.

"I am very happy to be one of three Vietnamese representatives at the world championship." 

Olympian Linh has high hopes at the Spanish event. She performed well at the Tokyo Olympics, beating two athletes who stand higher than her in the world ranking before losing to world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.

Linh, currently training at the Bắc Ninh Sport University, told Việt Nam News she is excited for the tournament. Although a large event and just as difficult as the Olympics, she hopes for more positive results after her remarkable performance in Tokyo.

In the last two years, Linh secured one gold, three silvers and two bronzes at international events.

All three players will warm-up at the National Individual and Team Badminton Championship in Thái Bình Province later this month before flying to Spain.

“They are training hard for the world tournament which is a rare international opportunity of the national team because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything has been done, now we just wait to depart," said Lê Thanh Hà, general secretary of the Việt Nam Badminton Federation. VNS