Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh at the World Badminton Championship in Paris, France, in August 2025. Photo by Instagram/@badmintonphoto_official
Vietnam’s number one badminton player Nguyen Thuy Linh has climbed four spots to 18th and returned to the highest ranking of her career, according to the latest women’s singles update from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The BWF ranks players based on their 10 best performances in tournaments over a year.
Linh earned an additional 6,000 points by reaching the third round of the 2025 Badminton World Championships in Paris, France, her highest point gain in a year.
As of Sept. 2, Linh has 49,450 points, up four places from last week. The 18th position is a personal best for the 28-year-old, who first reached this milestone on July 22, 2025. She is also the only Vietnamese female player in the top 100. Vietnam’s second-ranked female player, Vu Thi Trang, is currently 127th with 13,250 points.
Besides the world championships, Linh’s best results over the past year include winning the Vietnam Open, finishing runner-up in the Canada Open and German Open, reaching the quarterfinals of the Malaysia and Indonesia Masters and the Hylo Open, the round of 16 in the Malaysia Open and Denmark Open, and the round of 32 in the Asian Championships.
An Se-young of South Korea maintains her top position on the ranking with 111,270 points, despite an early exit at the recent world tournament. Reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan moved up one spot to fourth with 89,364 points. Among the women’s top 10, Southeast Asia has four representatives: two from Indonesia and two from Thailand.
In men’s singles, Nguyen Hai Dang and Le Duc Phat both dropped places after first-round exits at the world tournament. Dang fell five places to 62nd with 24,150 points, while Phat slipped 13 spots to 83rd with 20,360 points.
Linh’s next competition is the Vietnam Open at Nguyen Du Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City from Sept. 9 to 14. She is aiming for her fourth consecutive title and will face Taiwan’s Liang Ting-Yu, ranked 68th globally, in the first round.
