Vietnam’s three top badminton players have gotten off to a good start at the – White Nights 2015 – international badminton challenge taking place July 1-5 at the Sporthall Arena in Gatchina.

The US$150,000 competition, organized by the National Badminton Federation of Russia in collaboration with the Badminton Federation of Leningrad, has attracted 202 players from 32 countries in Asia, Europe and Pan America.

Although this is not a highly prestigious tournament it has reunited many of the world's most powerful players and is important for the players to accumulate points on the world ranking list to navigate their way to the 2016 Olympics.

Vietnam top player Nguyen Tien Minh won three consecutive games in the early rounds to advance to the quarter-finals where he will face Abdul Latif from Malaysia who currently stands 66th in the world ranking.

In the men’s singles, Pham Cao Cuong has also made it into the quarter-finals and is set to square off with Ukrainian player Artem Pochtarev.

Meanwhile in the women’s singles, Vu Thi Trang, ranked world No 49, will meet Marija Ulitina from Ukraine in the quarterfinals.

VOV