Vietnamese badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh defeated Lopez Andres 21-8, 21-10 in the first round of the Yonex OCBC US open GPG badminton tournament yesterday in California, the US.

World No 9 Minh took only 25 minutes to finish the match against the Mexican rival who was not seeded.

In the next match today, Minh, the tournament's No 3, will be up against US player Calvin Lin.

Another Vietnamese player in the women's competition, Vu Thi Trang will face American Christine Yang.

The US Open is offering US$120,000 in prize money, with the finals set for July 13. — VNS