Nguyen Tien Minh advanced to the quarter-finals of the Kawasaki Vietnam International Series 2016 badminton tournament yesterday in Bac Ninh Province.

The Vietnamese former world No 5, who is seeded No 1 here, defeated No 11 Ramachandran Satheishtharan of Malaysia 21-13, 21-14 in a 35-minute match.

He will next face Chen Chi Ting from Chinese Taipei, who trounced Vietnamese Nguyen Hoang Nam 21-19, 21-12.

On the women’s side, No 1 seed Vu Thi Trang of the hosts will also play in the quarter-finals following her 21-14, 21-11 win over Chamnaktan Piramon of Thailand yesterday.

No 5 player Le Thu Huyen beat Chinese Taipei Liu Hsi Hsia 20-22, 22-20, 21-13.

She will next face No 2 Lin Yin Fun of Malaysia.

No 2 pair Do Duc Tuan and Pham Hong Nam are the top title favourites of the men’s doubles category.

They beat South Korean Kim Sung-hoon and Kwon Yi-goo 21-14, 23-21 to enter the quarter-finals.

Earlier, No 1 seeds Duong Bao Duc and Bao Minh were unexpectedly defeated by South Korean qualifying duo Kang Dong-ho and Son Ju-hyung 13-21, 21-15, 21-19.

Only duo Vu Thi Trang and Nguyen Thi Sen, the No 1 seeds, still have a shot at the women’s doubles class. They entered the last-eight round yesterday when their Indonesian rivals withdrew from the tournament.

There are two Vietnamese pairs whose hopes are still alive in the mixed doubles event.

No 1 Do Tuan Duc and Pham Nhu Thao will play Singapore’s Bimo Adi Prakoso and Jin Yujia, while Do Van Nhan and Dinh Thi Phuong Hong will meet No 2 pair Yogendran Khrishnan and Prajakta Sawant in the quarter-final round. 

VNS