Badminton 

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese players made a strong start at the Nepal International Challenge 2024 badminton tournament on December 24 in Tripureshwor, Nepal.

Việt Nam have three representatives competing in the men's and women's singles events.

Number three seed Nguyễn Hải Đăng on December 24 defeated qualifier Hemanth Gowda of India 19-21, 21-9, 21-13 in the first match. He will play another Indian player, Siddhanth Gupta in the next round.

Earlier, Việt Nam champion Lê Đức Phát, the No 1 seed, won 22-20, 19-21, 21-12 over Shashwat Dalal of India.

It was Phát's second win over the same rival within one week. He eliminated Dalal from the Bangladesh International Challenge 2024's quarter-finals last week and will meet Indian Rahul Bharadwaj in his next game.

In the women's singles, fifth seed Vietnamese Vũ Thị Anh Thư, was forced to retire due to injury in the first round match against Yashvi Bhat from India with the score board at 21-18, 15-14 in her favour.

The Nepalese tournament features more than 280 players in five categories of men's and women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles. The finals are scheduled on December 26.

The Super 1000 event will deliver US$15,000 in prize money and world ranking points to winning players. VNS