The six-member national badminton team, led by prominent stars Nguyen Tien Minh and Vu Thi Trang, are making last-minute preparations for the 2014 Badminton Asia Championships which take place in Gimcheon, Republic of Korea from April 22-27.

The other Vietnamese representatives are Pham Cao Cuong, Duong Bao Duc, Nguyen Hoang Nam, Nguyen Thi Sen, Do Tuan Duc and Le Thu Huyen.

Tien Minh, the country’s number one player, will be challenged by the host nation’s Jong Soo Hwang in the first round of the men’s singles, while Cao Cuong faces a tricky encounter against a very strong Taiwanese opponent, Chou Tien Chen.

Top female player Vu Thi Trang will face Thailand’s Buranaprasertsuk Porntip in her opener, while her teammate Thu Huyen meets Malaysian Lim Yin Funa.

In the men’s doubles discipline, Vietnamese pair Bao Duc / Hoang Nam received a bye to the second round, in which they will play the winners of the clash between Hong Kong’s Lo Lok Kei / Chan Tsz Kit and China’s Shi Longfei / Chen Zhuofu.

Vu Thi Trang will pair with Nguyen Thi Sen to play against the Chinese duo of Luo Ying and Luo Yu in the women’s doubles first round, while Tuan Duc and Thu Huyen face Taiwan’s Liao Min Chun and Chen Hsiao Huan in the mixed doubles category.

A new feature of this year’s championships is the introduction of player qualifications by the Badminton Asia Confederation via the merit of Asian ranking, which means that only the best of the best Asian players will be competing for the top spot.

On April 16, top Vietnamese badminton player and world number ten Nguyen Tien Minh received good news as Becamex IJC decided to extend his sponsorship contract, which expired last month, to April 2015. Accordingly, Tien Minh will receive VND50 million per month if he maintains his place in the world’s top ten, VND25 million if he falls into the 11th–20th spots and VND10 million for 21st–25th positions.

Nhandan/VNN