The annual World Badminton Championships, now in its 29th edition, is taking place in Paris, France, from 25/8 to 31/8. Vietnam has six players participating: Vu Thi Trang and Nguyen Thuy Linh in women's singles, Le Duc Phat and Nguyen Hai Dang in men's singles, and Nguyen Dinh Hoang and Tran Dinh Manh in men's doubles.

Vu Thi Trang during her match against Mia Blichfeldt on 24/8/2024 at the Tokyo Olympics, Japan. Screenshot

Vu Thi Trang during her match against Mia Blichfeldt on 24/8/2024 at the Tokyo Olympics, Japan. Screenshot

In yesterday's first round, Vu Thi Trang took only 31 minutes to defeat the higher-ranked Yevheniia Kantemyr, 22-20, 21-8. The Ukrainian player is ranked 127th in the world this year, while Trang rarely competes internationally and is therefore unranked.

The 33-year-old Vu Thi Trang, born in Bac Giang (now Bac Ninh), was once ranked 39th in the world. She is married to former world number four Nguyen Tien Minh. Tien Minh is also the most successful Vietnamese player at the World Championships, having won a bronze medal in Guangzhou, China, in 2013.

In the second round, Trang will face 14th seed Gao Fangjie, not before midnight on 28/8.

Prior to Trang's victory, Nguyen Thuy Linh caused an upset by defeating former champion Ratchanok Intanon 21-17, 21-18 in 45 minutes, also in the first round. Following this match, Vietnam's top female player now has a 2-1 head-to-head record against the world number 10 from Thailand.

In the second round, taking place tonight, Thuy Linh will face the lower-ranked Kirsty Gilmour. The Scottish player is known for being openly lesbian.

In the men's doubles, Dinh Hoang and Dinh Manh also won their first-round match against the Brazilian pair Izak Batalha and Matheus Voigt, 22-20, 21-16. The Vietnamese duo will play against Taiwanese opponents Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan in the second round.

In the men's singles, both Duc Phat and Hai Dang were eliminated in the first round. Duc Phat lost to Julien Carraggi 19-21, 18-21, while Hai Dang lost to Indonesian opponent Alwi Farhan 20-22, 13-21.

The tournament follows a knockout format. Each singles event has 64 players. Therefore, to win the championship, each player needs to win six matches.

Xuan Binh