World No 9 Nguyen Tien Minh of Viet Nam booked a berth in the semi-final of the Yonex OCBC US open GPG badminton tournament yesterday in California.

The tournament's No 3 defeated Sattawat Pongnairat 21-10, 21-10.

In the semis today, he will play No 13 Kento Momota of Japan who beat title favourite Yun Hu of Hong Kong 21-14, 20-22, 23-21.

Last year, Minh did not compete, but he was a finalist in the 2011 edition.

The tournament is part of the Grand Prix Gold system with US$120,000 in prize money.-VNS