Viet Nam's top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh defeated Malaysia's Daren Liew in the second round of the men's singles at the Yonex Japan Open Badminton Super Series 2012 yesterday in Tokyo.

Despite powerful attacking play, Liew, the world No 27, lost to world No 14 and eighth seed Minh 21-14, 21-23, 21-16 in a match that lasted one hour and 12 minutes.

Last month, Minh also defeated his Malaysian rival at the Viet Nam Open.

In the quarter-finals, Minh will meet Hong Kong's Yun Hu who defeated Ueda Takuma of the hosts Japan 21-12, 21-10 in the second round yesterday.

On Wednesday, Olympian Minh managed to overpower Brice Leverdez of France, the world No 44, in just 38 minutes with a 21-19, 21-19 margin on the board.-VNS