Nguyễn Hải Đăng

HÀ NỘI — Nguyễn Hải Đăng yesterday won his first match at the Yonex Sunrise Vietnam Open badminton tournament in HCM City.

The 19-year-old Đăng defeated world No 75 Lucas Clearbout of France 21-19, 21-19 in the first round of the men’s singles event at Nguyễn Du Gymnasium.

It was his third win here as he earlier won two matches in the qualifiers for a slot in the main round.

Đăng, world No 361, will meet Hsueh Hsuan Yi of Chinese Taipei, also a qualifier, in the next round.

In other matches, Phạm Cao Cường of the hosts also advanced to the second round after beating Georges Julien Paul of Maurice 21-12, 21-16. His next rival is qualifier Jun Yan Ng of Malaysia.

On the women’s side, Vũ Thị Trang fought back to go through to the second round after defeating Chinese Li Yun 20-22, 21-10, 21-6. She will next play No 5 seed Zhang Zi Man, also from China.

Her teammate Nguyễn Thuỳ Linh however was eliminated by No 6 seed Kim Hyo Min of South Korea. VNS