Nguyen Thuy Linh missed the opportunity to defeat the world junior badminton champion.
Pitchamon Opatniputh (36th in the world), who has just celebrated his 19th birthday, is the young Thai badminton hopeful. She won team gold with the Thai national team at the 2022 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam and 2023 in Cambodia. Her women’s singles title at the 2023 World Junior Badminton Championships in the United States also marked her journey. This is why she is considered a formidable opponent for her quarter-final against Nguyen Thuy Linh (world 21) during the Indonesia Masters 2026 tournament.
Nguyen Thuy Linh showed great valor in her quarter-final match against 2023 World Junior Women’s Singles Champion Pitchamon Opatniputh (Thailand).
The youthful energy of Pitchamon Opatniputh (nine years his junior) was evident. The Thai player got off to an excellent start, quickly widening the gap with Nguyen Thuy Linh to six points (11/5). However, Nguyen Thuy Linh’s composure and experience allowed him to string together the points and tie at 13/13, before winning the first set 21/18.
Pitchamon Opatniputh confirmed his excellent start to the second set by leading 10-5 against Nguyen Thuy Linh. The Vietnamese number one then fought back to win the game, tying the score at 18-18. Despite several set points saved by her opponent and numerous opportunities to conclude, Nguyen Thuy Linh was unable to make them happen and lost 24-26, thus forcing a decisive third set.
Nguyen Thuy Linh suffered a disappointing defeat in the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Masters 2026 badminton tournament.
Nguyen Thuy Linh’s declining physical condition put her at a disadvantage in the long rallies, resulting in an unfortunate 12/21 loss to Pitchamon Opatniputh, ultimately losing 1-2 after 1 hour and 12 minutes of competition.
The Indonesia Masters 2026 badminton tournament is part of the BWF World Tour Super 500 circuit and offers a total prize pool of US$500,000 (approximately VND13 billion). The winners of the individual tournaments (men’s singles and women’s singles) pocket US$37,500 (approximately 970 million VND). Only the highest ranked players in the BWF rankings are allowed to participate in this tournament, with Nguyen Thuy Linh being the only representative from Vietnam. Qualified for the quarterfinals, she will receive a minimum of US$3,000 (approximately 78 million VND) and 5,040 points in the BWF rankings.
Source : https://thanhnien.vn/nguyen-thuy-linh-dung-chan-dang-tiec-o-tu-ket-giai-cau-long-indonesia-masters-2026-185260123140339081.htm
