VietNamNet Bridge – National hope Nguyen Tien Minh was bested in the Viet Nam Open badminton tournament by Daren Liew of Malaysia on Thursday in HCM City.

Nguyen Tien Minh loses in the third round of the Viet Nam Open. — Photo vtv.vn

In the third round of the men’s singles, Minh, who is world No 62 and the tournament’s No 9, lost 16-21, 14-21 to Liew, who is world No 50 and tournament’s No 8. In their seven meets, this is the first time that Liew has defeated Minh.

“I am surprised with his outstanding performance. He has lost to me in the past, but he has never played so well like this,” a disappointed Minh said.

In the women’s doubles, Dinh Thi Phuong Hong and Do Thi Hoai advanced to the quarter-finals after winning 21-13, 21-14 against teammates Vu Thi Trang and Nguyen Thi Sen. The Southeast Asian Games bronze medallists will now face No 7 duo Della Destiara Haris and Rizki Amelia Pradipta of Indonesia.

Tonight, Trang, No 4 seed, will play Chinese Taipei’s No 7 Pai Yu Po.

Hong, Hoai and Trang are the only Vietnamese players left in the 10th edition of the competition, which is one of Badminton World Federation’s Grand Prix events. It has attracted 330 athletes from Belgium, Canada, Indonesia and Japan. The best players will take home prizes of VND1.5 billion (US$67,000). 

Source: VNS