VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh will continue to be invested in with VND300 million ($15,000) from the state budget in 2013 to maintain his current position and to achieve the goal of winning a gold medal at the upcoming Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar.

According to the latest rankings of the International Badminton Federation, Tien Minh ranks 11th. He has been rejected from the top ten because he did not attend the Open Denmark and France tournaments. His position is occupied by Danish player Jorgensen.

Being knocked out of the world top 10 but Tien Minh has received good news from the Vietnam Badminton Federation. The federation will remain its investment of VND300 million ($15,000) for this player next year. In total, Tien Minh will have around VND1 billion ($50,000) a year.

Sports officials hope that with the investments, Tien Minh will be in the world’s top 10 or 15 for one more year. He is also expected to win a gold medal at the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar.

However, the investment shows a sad reality: the Vietnamese badminton has no player who can replace Tien Minh in the near future.

S. Tung