VietNamNet Bridge – Nguyen Tien Minh of Viet Nam took his first title of the year yesterday after winning the Yonex Sunrise Viet Nam Grand Prix Open in HCM City.

Minh who is the world No 7 and tournament No 1 overwhelmed rival Sho Sasaki of Japan 21-13, 21-17 in the men's singles final in 40 minutes at the Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium.

Minh balanced the books after losing 7-21, 18-21 to Sho in the US Open last month in California. The Japanese, who ranks ninth in the world, also beat Minh at the Australian Open in June.

Minh played better than any of his previous final matches, possibly due to great support from the home fans who were well prepared with flags, drums and cymbals after his semi-final victory on Saturday.

The two-time Olympian entertained with his superb skills against Sho who is famous for his fighting spirit and hard work.

From the opening points, Minh maintained a firm grip in all corners of the court. His shot selection and placement was perfect so that barely a shot was wasted.

Sho struggling hard but failed to dominate and could not break through the host's strong defence.

In other finals yesterday, Mingtian Fu of Singapore beat fellow Japanese Kaori Imabeppu 21-18, 16-21, 21-8 to take the women's crown. Russian duo Durkin Vitalij and Nina Vislova beat South Korean Eui Seok-chung and Hyun Young-yoo 21-16, 21-13 for the mixed doubles gold medal.