Minh to defend title against world’s best

(22-05-2007)

HCM CITY — Viet Nam No 1 Nguyen Tien Minh will have a tough time defending his Robot Challenge badminton title this week against some of the best players in the sport.

More than 200 players from 18 countries and territories have entered Viet Nam’s top badminton competition, which opens today at the Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium in HCM City.

Minh, ranked 62nd in the world, is seeded No 5 - the only Vietnamese seed in the tournament. He will be battling against 13 of the International Badminton Federation’s top 50 players.

Malaysian Hashim Muhd Roslin, ranked 19th in the world, is the No 1 seed and Sapkul Chananart Poompat, 41st in the world, is seeded No 2.

Also seeded above Minh is Nicholas Kidd from England - 47th in the world and seeded No 3 - and Malaysian Tan Chun Seang - 48th in the world and seeded No 4.

"We trained under the same coach in Malaysia and we have similar tactics in play but Roslin is better than me in both physical strength and speed," said Minh.

"In our last two meets at the Asian Badminton Championship and the Philippines Open, I lost both in two sets. But this time on home ground, I am determined to win," said Minh.

In the women’s competition, Pie Xian Julia - ranked 19th in the world and this year’s No 1 seed - is likely to meet Thailand’s Soratja (ranked 30) and Monthila (ranked 34) in the competition.

Fresh from her victory in the New Zealand Open last Sunday, Zhou Mi from Hong Kong, the 2004 Olympics bronze medallist, is also expected to play.

The pair to watch in the men’s doubles is Indonesia’s Kusharjanto Tri and Suprijanto Bambang, who have been world champions for a number of years.

Up for grabs in this year’s tournament - known as the Robot Viet Nam Satellite for the last three years - is prize money of US$15,000 – $5,000 more than last year.

Badminton players in the tournament – part of the Satellite Series – get the chance to earn qualification points for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Viet Nam has 55 players competing in the six-day event, including 29 men and 26 women.

The knockout tournament has five categories – men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. — VNS