Vietnamese female badminton ace Vu Thi Trang. — Photo radiovietnam

HCM CITY (VNS) — Vietnamese female badminton ace Vu Thi Trang continued her excellent performance of late by stunning sixth seed Yang Li Lian of Malaysia in the second round to reach the quarter-finals.

Trang, unseeded at the tournament, looked comfortable but committed too many unforced errors and had difficulty in saving the drops at the net from Yang because of her not-so-good reach. It left Trang trailing 11-9 at the break of the first set.

Trang came back strongly after the break with some good rallies and effective smashes, equalising the points at 13-13. Some mistakes made by Yang allowed Trang to lead 17-14 after she sent a powerful smash down the line.

Yang recovered to make it 17-17 but a quick charge at the net, an unsuccessful drop and a long serve from Yang gave Trang a set point. The Vietnamese player missed a chance before taking the set after Yang hit the shuttle out.

Trang was completely in control against a below-par Yang in the second half to make it 11-7 at the break. Successful chips and good smashes from Trang combined with errors and misjudgement on the long serves from Yang gave Trang an 18-10 lead.

Yang gained two points but Trang snatched two points to make it 20-12 before Yang surrendered the set by failing to return a powerful smash, which hit right on the line.

"I played well today while my opponent seemed not to play so well," said Trang, who was happy because this is the first time she has reached the last eight in the women's singles event at Viet Nam's biggest badminton event.

Meanwhile, Yang admitted that she did not perform to her usual level, citing the air-conditioner as one of the reasons that affected her game.

"The shuttle orbit was affected by the wind from the air-conditioner and I did not handle it well today," said Yang, adding that Trang was the better player in their first encounter at an international tournament. — VNS