Vietnamese top badminton female player Nguyễn Thùy Linh was the runner-up in the women’s singles category of the Austria Open. Photo webthethao.vn

HÀ NỘI - Top Vietnamese female badminton player Nguyễn Thùy Linh finished second in the women’s singles category of the Austria Open on Saturday.

Yukino Nakai of Japan, world No 156, beat Linh, world No 47, 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) in the final.

Earlier, Linh defeated No 1 seed and world No 43 Brittney Tam of Canada 13-21, 22-20, 21-19 in the semi-finals which lasted nearly one hour. However, in the final the same day, Linh couldn't maintain her form.

With this result, Linh has a chance to get ahead of her teammate Vũ Thị Trang, who is world No 46, in the world rankings to be announced this week.

Trang and Linh are competing for a ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Born in the northern mountainous province of Phú Thọ, Linh’s grandfather found her ability in the sport and trained her.

After that, her grandfather sent her to Hà Nội to join a talented badminton team when she was 10. She then moved to play for Đà Nẵng and became the nation’s No 2 player, behind Vũ Thị Trang and was selected to the national team to compete in the Southeast Asian Games in 2018 when she was only 18 years old.

At present, the 22-year-old is one of the greatest hopes for Vietnamese badminton in international competition.

Linh won the Bangladesh International Series in 2019 and 2018. She won the Lao International Series in 2017 and triumphed in Nepal International Series in 2016. VNS