Following a tournament in China where she recorded one win and one loss, Thuy Linh ascended two spots to world number 25. This ranking earned her the 6th seed at the Taiwan Open. Her opponent, Pai Yu-po, 35, is currently ranked world number 60. While experienced, Pai has achieved few international accolades.

Nguyen Thuy Linh defeated Pai Yu-po 2-0 in the first round of the 2026 Taiwan Open international badminton tournament, on the evening of 29/7. Photo: Badminton Photo

Thuy Linh started the first set strongly, scoring four consecutive points as her opponent made errors. Pai, utilizing powerful smash shots, gradually narrowed the gap to 2-6 and then 4-8. However, Thuy Linh countered with short net shots to establish an 11-6 lead.

After the break, Thuy Linh made several errors, allowing Pai to score four consecutive points, bringing the score to 10-11, then 15-15, and 16-16. Regaining her composure, Thuy Linh executed several tricky shots to outmaneuver her opponent, ultimately winning the set 21-18, with the decisive points coming from two consecutive errors by Pai.

With advice from her coach during the interval, the player from Phu Tho province adopted a more diverse strategy in the second set. She moved flexibly and directed cross-court shots, forcing Pai into impatient errors, hitting the net or sending the shuttlecock out. This strategy allowed Thuy Linh to build leads of 6-3, 8-3, and then 11-5. She continued her strong performance, extending her lead to 18-7.

Benefiting from home-court advantage and playing with nothing to lose, Pai mounted a strong comeback, scoring six consecutive points to reduce the deficit to 13-18. Despite this, the Vietnamese representative responded with difficult shots to secure three more points, closing out the second set 21-14 and concluding the match in 37 minutes.

Thuy Linh is Vietnam's number one female badminton player, having won the national individual badminton championship seven consecutive times. She has also won the Vietnam Open three consecutive times since 2022 and participated in two Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. In the super 300 series, she has been a runner-up four times at the Germany Open in 2024 and 2025, the Canada Open in 2025, and the Korea Masters in 2025.

Thuy Linh's next opponent in the round of 16 will be another home player, Peng Yu-Wei.

The Taipei Open is part of the BWF World Tour Super 300 series, taking place at Taipei Arena from 28/7 to 2/8, with a total prize fund of USD 250,000. Besides Thuy Linh, other Vietnamese players, Vu Thi Trang and the doubles pair Nguyen Dinh Hoang/Tran Dinh Manh, participated from the qualifying rounds but were eliminated early.

After the Taiwan tournament, Thuy Linh will compete in the Korea Masters Super 300, followed by the World Championships held in India from 17-23/8. She will then return to Vietnam to prepare for ASIAD 20 in september in Japan.

Duc Dong