Nguyen Tien Minh wins Asian badminton bronze

Nguyen Tien Minh won his and Vietnam's first ever Badminton Asian Championship’s bronze on Sunday in Wuhan, China.

Vietnam's top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh. (Photo: VNA)
Vietnam's top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh. (Photo: VNA)

This was another milestone for the 36-year-old Minh, finishing third at the continental tournament which is considered the ‘mini version’ of the world tournament as Asia is home to some of the world's best badminton players.

Minh was defeated in the semi-final by Kento Momoto of Japan, a player Minh has beaten three times out of their last five matches.

Former world number five seed Minh started the semi-final strongly taking a 18-16 lead in the first set.

But Momota bounced back, taking five points in a row to win 21-18.

The second set was all about the world number one who won by 21-8 to move into the final.

For his efforts, Minh boosted his world ranking by 6,420 points and earned US$5,800 in prize money.

Momota later beat China's Shi Yuqi to win the Asian title. Other bronze medallist was Chou Tien Chen from Taiwan (China).