Vietnamese Badminton Prodigy Shocks International Tournament

Born in 2011 in Hai Duong, Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen quickly established herself as the most promising young badminton player in the under-15 category in Vietnam.

At just 14 years old, Thu Huyen began his international career by participating in professional tournaments. She currently occupies 1,042nd place in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) world rankings in women’s singles.

In December, Thu Huyen is participating in two major competitions in Bangladesh: the Bangladesh International Challenge last week and the Bangladesh International Series this week.

At the Bangladesh International Challenge, Thu Huyen created a sensation in the second round. She faced Joanne Ng, a 22-year-old Malaysian player currently ranked 208th in the world and the tournament’s number four seed.

Facing an opponent eight years her senior and more than 800 places in the rankings, Thu Huyen created a surprise by winning with a score of 21-17, 21-11.

In the quarter-finals, Thu Huyen beat Ishita Negi, 228th player in the world and considered an Indian badminton prodigy. Negi is two years older than Thu Huyen, but he still lost with a score of 14-21, 21-17, 13-21.

The adventure of the Vietnamese schoolgirl ended in the semi-final, against Tanvi Andluri. But immediately after, Thu Huyen resumed his participation in the Bangladesh International Series and once again defeated opponents at the peak of their form.

This tournament is of a higher level, and Thu Huyen is required to participate in the qualifiers.

In the first round of qualifying, she beat Mohona, an 18-year-old from the host country. The match lasted only 18 minutes and ended with a score of 21-3, 21-9.

Although Bangladesh’s international tournament system is not a major international competition, at the age of 14, Thu Huyen truly surprised everyone by defeating a series of professional opponents ranked among the top 300 in the world.

With such potential, Thu Huyen is tipped by the Vietnamese badminton community as a rising star, following in the footsteps of Vu Thi Trang and Nguyen Thuy Linh, and reaching the top of the world rankings in the coming years.