SEA Games: Gold Medal Hunt Begins

The draw for the badminton doubles (men, women, mixed) and singles (men, women) of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games took place on December 10. This means that Nguyen Thuy Linh’s opponent (world number 22) in the women’s singles has been determined. Vietnam’s best badminton player meets Ni Kadek Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi (Indonesia, world ranking 82).

Nguyen Thuy Linh is the fourth-place finisher.

Thùy Linh is seeded 4th in this tournament. The Vietnamese is considered stronger than her Indonesian opponent. In conversation with the newspaper Adolescent The head coach of the Vietnamese national badminton team, Ngô Trung Dũng, explained that Thùy Linh had a good chance of winning and advancing to the next round because the player, born in 1997, had a higher level of play and more experience than her opponent.

The aforementioned doubles and singles competitions began at 10 a.m. Nguyen Thuy Linh entered the square at 12 p.m.

In addition to Thuy Linh, the experienced player Nguyen Thi Trang will also compete in the women’s singles. Nguyen Tien Minh’s wife will face strong opponent Supanida Katethong (No. 3 in the seeding list, No. 12 in the world rankings) at 10:30 a.m.

In the men’s singles competition, Le Duc Phat will face the Indonesian Zaki Ubaidillah (world number 48) at 12 p.m. Nguyen Hai Dang will play against the Indonesian Alwi Farhan (No. 2 on the seed list, world ranking 17) at 1 p.m.

Two pairs competed in the women’s doubles: Pham Thi Dieu Ly – Pham Thi Khanh and Bui Bich Phuong – Vu Thi Trang. Unfortunately, Tran Thi Phuong Thuy was injured before the team competition (December 6) and was unable to return in time. Therefore, the coaching team had to nominate Vu Thi Trang as a replacement.

The duo Dieu Ly – Pham Thi Khanh will face Ngar Myar – Eaint Chit Phoo (Myanmar) at 2 p.m. Bich Phuong – Vu Thi Trang will play against the strong Thai duo Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn – Sukitta Suwachai (No. 3 on the seeding list) at 3:00 p.m.

In the team competition that began on December 7, the Vietnamese women’s badminton team was eliminated early after losing 3-1 to Malaysia. Nguyen Thuy Linh became the first and only player to achieve a victory by defeating the number one ranked Malaysian women’s team, Karupathevan Letshanaa.