SEA Games: Athlete’s Gold Medal Journey Begins

The draw for the doubles (men, women, mixed) and singles (men, women) badminton matches at the 33rd SEA Games took place on December 10. This means that the opponent of Nguyen Thuy Linh (world number 22) in the women’s singles is known. Vietnam’s number one will face Ni Kadek Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi (Indonesia, world number 82).

Nguyen Thuy Linh is number 4 on the placement list.

In this tournament, Thùy Linh is the fourth seeded player. The Vietnamese athlete is considered stronger than her Indonesian opponent. In an interview with the newspaper Adolescent Vietnam badminton team head coach Ngô Trung Dũng said Thùy Linh has a good chance of winning and advancing to the next round because the 1997-born player has a higher level and more experience than her opponent.

The aforementioned doubles and singles matches took place from 10:00 am. Nguyen Thuy Linh entered the track at 12:00.

In addition to Thuy Linh, experienced player Nguyen Thi Trang also participates in the women’s singles. The wife of Nguyen Tien Minh will compete against a very strong opponent, Supanida Katethong (number 3 on the seeding list, number 12 in the world) at 10:30 am.

For the men, Le Duc Phat will compete against Indonesian player Zaki Ubaidillah (world number 48) at 12 noon. Nguyen Hai Dang will play Indonesian player Alwi Farhan (seeded number 2, world number 17) at 1 p.m.

In the women’s doubles, two pairs faced each other: Pham Thi Dieu Ly – Pham Thi Khanh and Bui Bich Phuong – Vu Thi Trang. Unfortunately, Tran Thi Phuong Thuy was injured before the team match (December 6) and did not recover in time. Therefore, the coaching staff had to use Vu Thi Trang as a replacement.

The duo Dieu Ly – Pham Thi Khanh will take on Ngar Myar – Eaint Chit Phoo (Myanmar) at 2 p.m. Bich Phuong – Vu Thi Trang will face the strong Thai duo Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn – Sukitta Suwachai (number 3 on the placement list) at 3 p.m.

Earlier, in the team tournament that started on December 7, the Vietnam women’s badminton team was eliminated early after losing 1-3 to Malaysia. Nguyen Thuy Linh was the first and only player to win, beating the number one of the Malaysian women’s team, Karupathevan Letshanaa.