Vu Thi Trang of Vietnam won her first match at the World Badminton Championship in Belgium. Photo sggp.org.vn

Trang, world number 72, needed 32 minutes to beat her rival who is ranked 60th in the world in the women’s singles draw.

The Vietnamese player will next face Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark in the second round.

Her teammate, national champion Nguyen Thuy Linh, was eliminated yesterday after losing 20-22, 13-21 to Lianne Tan of the host nation.

In the men’s singles, Vietnam number one Nguyen Tien Minh let his Chinese rival Lin Dan come from behind to win 16-21, 21-12, 21-12.

Eleventh seed Lin, the former world and Olympics champions, lost to unseeded Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar of India in the second match yesterday.

Another Vietnamese Pham Cao Cuong was defeated 9-21, 10-21 to No 1 Kento Momota of Japan.

In the mixed doubles, Do Tuan Duc and Pham Nhu Thao advanced to the second round after a 21-12, 21-13 win over Poland’s duo Pawel Smilowski and Magdalena Swierczynska. They will next meet England’s Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock.

The world championship event which attracts the best athletes from around 50 countries will finish on August 25.

VNS