Badminton

Nguyễn Hải Đăng is one of two Vietnamese seeded players in the men's singles at the Vietnam International Challenge 2024. Photos thethao247.vn

HÀ NỘI  Vietnamese athletes Nguyễn Hải Đăng and Lê Đức Phát are among top seeds at the CIPUTRA HANOI - YONEX SUNRISE Vietnam International Challenge 2024 badminton tournament.

The annual competition will be held from March 12-17 at the Tây Hồ District Gymnasium.

Đăng, who is the national best athlete currently, is No 5, while Phát who just won his first title at the recent Uganda International, is No 6 in the men's singles event.

Both of them are racing to win an official spot at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.

In the first matches, Đăng will play Kok Jing Hong of Malaysia, while Phát will serve Shogo Ogawa of Japan.

Top three of the men's singles are No 1 Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia, No 2 Ayush Shetty of India, and Wang Po-Wei of Chinese Taipei. 

Last year, Đăng was stopped at the second round while Phát advanced to the final where he lost to Japanese Takuma Obayashi and took silver.

In the women's side, reigning champion Nguyễn Thùy Linh of Việt Nam will not defend her title as she is busy with her international tour that will keep her in Europe till the end of this month.

Vietnamese representative in the main round is Vũ Thị Anh Thư, world No 113 which does not make her a seeded player in this tournament. She will play Yeung Sum Yee of Hong Kong in the first match.

Vũ Thị Anh Thư is a Vietnamese representative in the women's singles main round.

Another player, Vũ Thị Trang, former Việt Nam No 1, will have to begin from the qualification. Trang will have to beat Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj of India to reach the main round. 

Trang is currently world No 199 and Ramraj is 23 steps higher than her.

Nguyễn Đình Hoàng and Trần Đình Mạnh are host duo in the men's doubles event.

But their draw is tough as they will play No 2 seed Chiang Chien-Wei and Wu Hsuan-Yi in the first match.

No Vietnamese pair is in the main round of the women's doubles. Phạm Thị Diệu Ly and Phạm Thị Khanh will have to play from the qualification where they fight Indian Kavya Gandhi and Saumya Singh.

In the mixed doubles, host Phạm Văn Hải and Thân Vân Anh is No 7 seed. They will face Indonesian Marwan Faza and Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu in the opening game.

The Vietnam Challenge is one of three international tournaments in Việt Nam. It is an official event of the Badminton World Federation where players will earn points for their world ranking.

In the 2024 edition, a total bonus of US$15,000 will be delivered to medal winners, of which the champions will take US$1,200. VNS