VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s top badminton player, Nguyen Tien Minh defeated Indian player, Anand Pawar, 2-1 at the first round of the Grand Prix Gold Tournament, which opened in Malaysia on May 4.

 
Minh, who is considered the tournament’s seed No. 3, is scheduled to play against strong rivals such as Park Sung Hwan and Lee Huyn Il from the Republic of Korea; Lee Choong Wei (world’s top player) and Wong Choong Hann from Malaysia; Sho Sasaki from Japan; Chen Jin and Chen Yuekun from China; and Sony Kuncoro and Santoso from Indonesia.

 

The tournament takes place from May 3-8, with a total bonus of $120,000.

 

This is the second time Tien Minh played in Malaysia. Earlier, the HCM City player participated in the Super Series in early 2011, and entered the quarter-final round.

 

In the first game in the morning of May 4, Vietnam’s top player was unexpectedly defeated, 10-21 in the first set. However, he won the next two set to be the winner (2-1) after 46 minutes.

 

Tien Minh’s rival in the second round, which will take place today, May 5, will be China’s Chen Yuejun, who ranks 102nd in the world, and unexpectedly trounced Tien Minh at quarter-final round of the Vietnam Open tournament in 2010.

 

PV