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"Still twisting and turning at 38. Being the oldest badminton player at Tokyo Olympics 2020 is no big deal for Nguyen Tien Minh," BWF wrote on Facebook.
Minh first appeared at Beijing 2008, when current world number one Kento Momota was only 13.
"What longevity! Let's raise a racket for him," BWF wrote.
Minh is two years older than the second-oldest badminton player at the Olympics this year, Nikula Karunaratne from Sri Lanka. This is Minh’s fourth consecutive Olympics, with the first in 2008.
All badminton players of Minh’s age are already retired, including legends like Malaysia’s Lee Ching Wei and China’s Lin Dan. A determined Minh, however, still plans to attend both SEA Games and Asian Games next year.
On Tuesday, Minh will play the next match of the Olympic group stage with Azerbaijani player Ade Resky Dwicahyo, who is 80th in world rankings, 20 places below Minh. In the previous match, Minh lost 0-2 to world number three, Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, currently in his prime.
Only the top player of group L will advance. If Minh wins against Dwicahyo, his chances of advancing is still really small, unless Antonsen loses to Dwicahyo in the last match.
