Injury-plagued Vietnam badminton star exits Korea Masters early

Nguyen Thuy Linh during the Korea Masters match against Kim Min-sun on Nov. 6, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong

Linh, 31st on world ranking, who was dealing with a back injury and heel pain, initially considered withdrawing to rest but ultimately chose to compete.

However, her physical condition and mental fatigue hindered her performance, leading to frequent mistakes and missed chances.

Linh's opponent, 18-year-old Kim, is 400th on world ranking. Despite her limited experience, Kim reached the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Masters in August 2024. In this tournament with the home ground advantage, she capitalized on Linh’s errors and progressed to the second round.

The match, lasting 1 hour and 7 minutes, saw Linh increasingly disadvantaged as it went on.

Following the German Open, Linh planned to pause international competition for the remainder of 2024 due to physical and mental exhaustion. However, since Linh had already registered and traveled to South Korea, she and her coaching team decided to participate in this one before the break.

The Korea Masters, held in Iksan from Nov. 5 to 10, attracted top players, including Paris Olympic runner-up Kunlavut Vitidsarn and other stars like Tomoka Miyazaki, Lee Chia-hao, Putri Wardani and Pitchamon Opatniputh.

Other Vietnamese players faced a similar outcome as Linh.

Nguyen Hai Dang, Vietnam's second-ranked male player, lost to India’s Kiran George in a three-set match. In the mixed doubles event, Pham Van Hai and Than Van Anh were defeated by South Korea’s Park Seul and Shin Tae-yang, while Nguyen Dinh Hoang and Tran Dinh Manh lost to Wang Chi-lin and Chiu Hsiang Chieh in men’s doubles.

Linh began her professional career at 14 and won the national tournament for elite players at 18. She has held the title of Vietnam’s top female badminton player since 2018, clinching seven consecutive national championships. Linh also secured three consecutive Vietnam Open titles since 2022 and represented Vietnam at both the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and Paris Olympics 2024.