VIETNAM UPDATED. Although he has amassed a collection of
prestigious titles from global and Asian competitions, top Vietnamese
badminton player and world number seven Nguyen Tien Minh has yet to win
the men’s singles gold medal at Myanmar's SEA Games.
The achievement stands as one of Minh’s greatest desires for his
badminton career. Minh has another opportunity to realise his dream at
the 27th SEA Games, which open next month in Myanmar, where he will
likely be the top seeded player in the men’s singles category.
A thorough warm-up
Tien
Minh has registered to participate in a number of international
competitions as part of his preparations for the upcoming SEA Games. He
skipped the recent National Badminton Top Players Championships to focus
his strength and energy on the 2013 Li Ning China Open, taking place in
Shanghai from November 12-17.
Minh is seeded sixth in the men’s
singles, behind Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, China’s Chen Long and Du
Pengyu, Japan’s Kenichi Tago and Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto.
There
promise to be numerous obstacles to Minh’s ambition of winning the
tournament, foremost among them fourth seed Kenichi Tago, who has been
placed in the same branch of the tournament bracket.
Two days
after the China Open concludes, Minh will begin his campaign at the
six-day 2013 Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open. After losing the sixth-place
ranking to Denmark’s Jan O. Jorgensen in the latest Badminton World
Federation (BWF) standings, world number seven Tien Minh has been seeded
seventh at the Hong Kong Open.
Minh has drawn to play world
number 26 Ajay Jayaram of India in his first-round match. He lost to
Jayaram in the Indian Badminton League in August before avenging himself
with a convincing 2-0 victory in the quarterfinal round of the 2013
Japan Open Super Series the following month.
Tien Minh will then
attempt to defend his championship title at the Yonex Sunrise Vietnam
Open, which takes place in Ho Chi Minh City from December 2-8, his last
international competition before the SEA Games.
Top seed at SEA Games?
The
ASEAN nations have not yet officially announced the rosters of their
badminton squads for the 27th SEA Games. Players must choose between two
options – the BWF Superseries Finals in Malaysia and the 27th SEA Games
in Myanmar – both of which take place concurrently, from December
11-15.
So far, world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia has
confirmed his participation in the Superseries Finals, while other top
regional players – including Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto (world number
five), as well as Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana (world number eight) and
Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (world number nine) – have yet to make up their
minds.
Should these players also choose the Superseries event, Tien
Minh is bound to be the top seed in the men’s singles at next month’s
SEA Games, which would help him avoid strong opponents in the early
rounds and consolidate his chances of progressing deep into the
tournament.
Minh experienced bitter defeat at the 26th SEA Games
in Indonesia two years ago, missing out on the SEA Games medals after a
disappointing 0-2 loss to a much-lower rated player, Derek Wong Zi Liang
of Singapore, in the men’s singles quarterfinals.
The upcoming
tournament will be an excellent opportunity for Minh to clinch the first
SEA Games men’s singles crown of his professional badminton career – an
achievement for which he is thirstier than ever.
Nhan Dan/VietNamNet Bridge
.
