VietNamNet Bridge – Facing French player Brice Leverdez, who ranks 44th in the world, in the first round, Vietnam’s top badminton player Tien Minh won 2-0 to move on to the second round of the Badminton Japan Open 2012.

The Yonex Open Japan 2012 is expected to be very easy for Tien Minh because China's strong players simultaneously gave up.

Tien Minh’s victory had been anticipated because Minh is more highly appreciated than his French rival and in the previous two games v.s Leverdez, Tien Minh was the winner.

In both sets, Tien Minh defeated Leverdez with the score 21/19, taking the card to the second round after 39 minutes of competition.
 
In the second round tomorrow, September 20--Tien Minh will face the winner of the match between Daren Liew (Malaysia) and Sai Praneeth (India).

According to the initial draw, Tien Minh will face the world number one player Lee Chong Wei in the second round. However, many Chinese players withdrew from the tournament so the organizing board had to organize another draw. Accordingly, Tien Minh will not have to meet strong rivals in the early rounds. In his group, Tien Minh will likely meet Peter Gade (Denmark) in the quarterfinals.

The Yonex Open Japan 2012 takes place from September 18 to 23 in Tokyo with a total prize value of up to $200,000. Tien Minh ranks 14 in the world but he is the 8th seed of the tournament.  

As the 8th seed, Tien Minh did not have to compete in the qualifying round. Last year, Minh was defeated by India’s Ajay Jayaram in the first round.

After this tournament, he will play at the Open Taiwan tournament which is scheduled on October 2-7. Between the two events, Tien Minh will return home to participate in the national individual championships in Thanh Hoa city.

Compiled by N. Nguyen