VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s top badminton player who just won the national championship has gained two spots up in the world rankings of the International Badminton Federation (BWF) after his results at the Japanese Super Series was updated.

Tien Minh (center, back row) has had no rival at the national championships for the last 11 years.

In the BWF rankings, Tien Minh had a high point of 58896.72, moving up from the eighth to the sixth. Compared to the previous rankings, Tien Minh’s points increased by 1380 thanks to his progress into the semi-finals of the Japanese Super Series.

The performance at the Japanese Super Series also made impact on the ranking of other players. The runner-up of the Japanese Super Series - Kenichi Tago of Japan jumped up to the fourth place of Boonsak Ponsana (Thailand) and Jan Jorgensen (Denmark) ranked fifth.

Meanwhile, being eliminated early in the tournament, Boonsak Ponsana fell to the eighth place and Hu Yun (Hong Kong) dropped out of the top 10.

Earlier, Tien Minh affirmed not to attend the Japan Super Series due to fatigue, but he had to participate in the event under the BWF’s regulations. However, this decision brought unexpected success for the player from HCM City when he played very well and significantly improved his ranking.

After the Japanese Super Series, Tien Minh also successfully defended his national championship. The victory gives Tien Minh City $1,100 bonus and makes a record of being the national champion for 11 consecutive times.

Nguyen Nam