Tien Minh eases into Vietnam Open quarterfinals

Vietnam’s badminton star, Nguyen Tien Minh hardly broke a sweat as he entered the Vietnam Open men’s singles quarterfinals following his handy 2-0 third-round win over Malaysia’s Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub on September 4.

Tien Minh received good news prior to his third-stage game, climbing seven places in the latest BWF world rankings released on Thursday, which boosted his spirit and drove him to an overwhelming match against world number 185, Ayub.

Minh quickly went ahead 9-6 and 14-10 before scoring seven consecutive points to claim the first set with a score of 21-10 after just 13 minutes.

The second set continued to witness Minh’s domination. It took him just 15 minutes to finish the set 21-14 and seal an aggregate 2-0 victory.

Next up for Minh is a quarterfinal encounter against sixth seeded Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong, who crushed Malaysia’s Zulfadli Zulkiffli 2-0 in their third-round game with scores of 21-11 and 21-14. Minh beat Zulkiffli 21-13 and 21-18 in their previous meeting at the 2012 Hong Kong Open tournament.

In the women’s singles event, Vietnamese player, Vu Thi Trang came from behind to beat Indonesia’s Susanto Yulia Yosephin 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, 21-16) on the same day to set up a second-round clash with seed no. 6, Li Lian Yang of Malaysia.

Trang then coupled with Nguyen Thi Sen to knock down an Indonesian pair, Meiliana Jauhari – Aprilsasi Putri Lejarsar Variella 2-0 (22-20, 23-21) to make the second round of the women’s doubles discipline.

Viettel, HTV to coordinate on UEFA match broadcast

Viettel Television Company, which has the rights to broadcast the UEFA European 2016 qualifying stage in Viet Nam, will coordinate with HCM City Television (HTV) to exploit the opportunity.

Around 120 matches will be broadcast live on HTV9 and the Viet Nam

National Defence Television channel from this Sunday till November next year.

The qualifying round, in which a record 53 nations will participate, will have nine groups of five or six teams that will compete in fixtures at home and abroad. The nine group winners and runners-up and the

best team in third place will qualify for the final tournament.

The eight teams in third place will compete in play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals.

For the first time, 24 teams including the host team France will

contest in the event's final round, instead of 16 teams.

Trang prevails after slow start

Local top female player Vu Thi Trang lived up to expectations, overcoming Susanto Yulia Yosephin of Indonesia in the women's singles first-round match in three sets (17-2121-1521-16), sealing a place in the second round of the Viet Nam Open badminton tournament.

Trang, who made history for the country last week by becoming the first female player to reach the third round at a World Badminton Championship, is yet to recover from jet lag, which saw her drop the first set 17-21.

The Bac Giang-born girl, however, rallied to claim the two later sets to become the only Vietnamese female player remaining in the tournament with a place in the second round, where she faces sixth seed Yang Li Lian of Malaysia today at Tan Binh Indoor Stadium.

"I am not happy with my performance today because I made too many mistakes, especially in the third set," Trang told Viet Nam News after the match.

There were few surprises at the top end of the draw, with most top seeds advancing to the next round of the women's singles event. Top seed Hsu Ya Ching of Chinese Taipei, third seed Maria Febe Kusumastuti of Indonesia and eighth Iris Wang of Malaysia all came out on top in their first-round matches.

In the men's singles event, third seed Nguyen Tien Minh continued proving his credentials by brushing aside Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub of Malaysia in straights set to book a place in the quarter-finals, where he encountered Ka Long Ng of Hong Kong, China.

Azriyn launched a fierce attack on Minh's back hand wing, catching him off guard and awarding Azriyn an 11-8 scoreboard at the break.

The Malaysian player's game soon dissolved with Minh diverting shots with powerful smashes to notch a 21-10 win in the first set.

Minh's momentum continued into the second set blasting a bewildered Ariyn into a convincing 21-13 win.

Mohammad Arif Abdul Latif of Malaysia also reached the quarter-finals after beating Ajay Jayaram 22-20, 21-16 in the third round while the fifth seed Prannoy H.S. also occupied a place in the final eight.

In the women's doubles event, Trang paired with Nguyen Thi Sen to beat Indonesian duo Meiliana Jauhari and Aprilsasi Putri Lejarasa Variella 22-20, 23-21 to become the only Vietnamese duo in the category.

However, pairings from Thailand and Indonesia looked poised to go all the way to the finals.

Indonesian players dominated the mixed doubles event with all quarter-final matches being all-Indonesian affairs or having at least one pair from the archipelago nation and are expected to sweep the podium places.

Top-seeded Indonesian pair Muhammad Rijal and Vita Marissa will face off against their compatriots: eighth-seeded Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki and Aprilsasi Putri Lejarsar Variella.