Nguyen Thuy Linh, a “hot girl” of Vietnamese badminton, stormed into the third round of the women’s singles category of the 2018 WBF World Championships in Nanjing, China, following her thrilling second round victory over third-seed Michelle Hi of Canada, on July 31.

Nguyen Thuy Linh is the only Vietnamese shuttler to qualify for the third round in this year's world championships.

Linh led 20-16 in the opening set but let her opponent fight back for a 23-21 win.

However, the Hanoi girl staged a strong comeback, claiming a second-set win of 21-12 before putting the match to bed with a 23-21 triumph in the decisive set, thereby booking a place in the third round for the first time.

Earlier on July 30, Thuy Linh overwhelmed Mariya Mitsova of Bulgaria with a score of 21-9 and 21-14 after only 30 minutes in the opening round.

Next up for Linh will be a crunch third round clash against the no. 6 seed, He Bingjiao of China, later today.

Vietnam's no. 1 player Nguyen Tien Minh fails to live up to expectations.

In contrast to Linh’s brilliance, Vietnam’s no. 1 player Nguyen Tien Minh and his wife, Vu Thi Trang, were forced to say goodbye to the tournament after respectively losing 0-2 to world no. 16 Anders Antonsen (Denmark) and Hyun Gung Ji, the no. 9 seed from the Republic of Korea, in the second round on August 1.

Vietnamese pair Bao Minh and Duong Bao Duc also failed to advance following their 13-21, 14-21 defeat to the tenth-seeded duo, Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov of Russia, in the men’s doubles competition.

The 2018 BWF World Championships are taking place from July 30 to August 5, with Vietnam represented by nine players in the men’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s singles categories.

Nhan Dan