Vietnam’s top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh was unable to pull off a miracle win against Lin Dan, the two-time Olympic champion, on the ninth competition day of the Rio 2016 Olympics, August 14 (local time). 

The Chinese player, who secured the gold medals at the Games in Beijing in 2008 and London four years later, took the initiative throughout the match and left Minh far behind in the scoring. 

Minh lost 7 – 21 and 12 – 21 in two sets, giving the only ticket to the next round in Group E to Lin Dan. 

Earlier, both players had defeated their European rivals before facing each other in this match. 

Minh was the only Vietnamese athlete competing on August 14. 

At the end of the ninth day, Vietnam ranked 35th in the medal tally with one gold and one silver taken by marksman Hoang Xuan Vinh. 

The US still dominated the Games with 69 medals, including 26 golds. It was followed by the UK and China.

VNA