Dominant performance and straight-set win sent top Vietnamese badminton
player Nguyen Tien Minh to the third round of the Yonex Sunrise Vietnam
GP Open.
Third-seeded Minh on September 3 took 41 minutes to beat
unseeded Mahbub Thomi Azizan of Indonesia, 21-17, 21-15, in their first
meeting at an international tournament.
Opting to taking an
aggressive stance in the match, Minh began strongly and attacked with
powerful smashes. His game plan worked as the he quickly took a
commanding lead, with the margin never falling below three points,
before finishing the set at 21-17.
The four-time champion built
an even bigger lead early in the second set as he raced to 5-0, then
14-8, then 18-11, though Azizan forced Minh into some long rallies,
which drew rounds of applause from supporters.
The Indonesian
managed to reduce the deficit to 19-15, but unsuccessful smashes and
long shuttles killed him off as Minh claimed the set, 21-15.
Minh will meet Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub of Malaysia on September 4.
Organisers
had to move the games to Tan Binh Indoor Gymnasium after a part of the
ceiling of Phan Dinh Phung Indoor Gymnasium, the tournament venue since
2008, crumbled during a badminton match. Nobody was hurt.
The
incident sparked changes in schedule and forced some players to play
their matches later in the day. Organisers had to send buses to move
players from their hotels, which are just a few minutes walk from the
original venue, to the new venue.
Players who competed on
September 2 night at the former venue expressed sympathy for the
organisers and said the change of venue had not caused any problems.
“I
think it was beyond the organisers’ control, so we have to accept the
change. But everything had been handled well, and we didn’t have any
problems concerning the schedule as well as transportation,” said Indian
player Ajay Jayaram, who has competed in previous tournaments.
“Everything
is OK and the facility is good,” he added. Jayaram also entered the
third round after overcoming Hsuan Yi Hsueh of Chinese Taipei 21-15,
21-18.
Young player Tan Chee Thean, who was not at the stadium on
September 2 night and is competing in the event for the first time,
said the change of stadium did not worry him because everything was
under control and he has yet to play a match.
Vietnamese young
hopeful Pham Cao Cuong wasted two match points to allow Hashiru Shimono
of Japan to stage a come-from-behind victory, 21-14, 14-21, 12-21.
Another hopeful, Pham Hoang Nam, also failed to qualify as he lost to Kean Yew Loh of Singapore in the first round.-VNA