Vietnamese shuttler to make history with the most appearances at World Championships

Badminton ace Nguyen Tien Minh is set to make history as the athlete with the most appearances at the BWF World Championships as he is going to represent Vietnam at the forthcoming 2022 tournament in Japan.

Vietnamese badminton ace Nguyen Tien Minh. (Photo: thethaovietnamplus.vn)
Vietnamese badminton ace Nguyen Tien Minh. (Photo: thethaovietnamplus.vn)

This will be Tien Minh’s 13th time participating in one of the world’s most prestigious events in the sport.

He surpassed the appearances of badminton legends: Lin Dan, from China, who retired in 2020 (12 times), and Lee Chong Wei, from Malaysia, who retired in 2019 (11 times).

Tien Minh will compete in the men’s singles category at the 2022 BWF World Championships, which is scheduled to run between August 22 and 28 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo. He will be joined by two fellow countrywomen, Vu Thi Trang (his wife) and Nguyen Thuy Linh, who will feature in the women’s singles event.

Vu Thi Trang, Nguyen Tien Minh and Nguyen Thuy Linh will represent Vietnam to compete in the 2022 BWF World Championships.

According to the draw, world no. 82 Tien Minh will play his opening clash against world no. 16 Wang Tzu Wei. The Vietnamese player recorded one win and one loss in his previous encounters the Chinese Taipei opponent.

Tien Minh, 39, is also the eldest competitor in the men’s singles event this year, two years older than the next eldest participants Niluka Karunaratne (Sri Lanka) and Pablo Abian (Spain). His best result at the BWF World Championships was a bronze-medal finish in 2013.

In the women’s draw, world no. 57 Nguyen Thuy Linh will kick-start her campaign with a clash against world no. 27 Aya Ohori, Japan’s no. 2 female player.

Meanwhile, world no. 75 Vu Thi Trang is set to play world no. 54 Kisona Selvaduray from Malaysia.