VietNamNet Bridge – Badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh will head to the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open in a bid to re-take the championship title he lost last year in an unexpected defeat by Simon Santoso of Indonesia.

Nguyen Tien Minh.
Currently ranked world No 7, Minh is No 1 seed at the tournament and is full of energy and desire to get his hands on the gold medal after his Viet Nam Open Grand Prix title late last month.

The two-time Olympian is scheduled for easy matches in the first two rounds with his first real competition coming in the third round when he'll face off against old rival Chan Yan Kit of Hong Kong.

With a win, his next opponent would be a re-match against Santoro in the quarter-finals which Minh expects will be an opportunity for revenge, although Santoro is ranked highly as the No 5 seed.

Travelling with Minh to Taipei is top player Vu Thi Trang who will compete in the women's singles.

Trang has her work cut out as she must play for a spot in the main round in the qualifying round in which she is seeded No 2. The Youth Olympics bronze medallist needs two wins to advance to the main round.

The Taipei tournament, which also includes men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles events, will kick off today and conclude five days later with the winners walking away with their share of the total US$200,000 in prizes.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News