Vietnam's top badminton player loses to world number nine

Linh had already lost to Han 0-2 in their last two encounters.

But she stunned her rival in the first set of the rematch at Changzhou Olympic Sports Center.

Han had a strong start and led 5-1, but Linh shortened the gap and then took the lead. She had a chance to finish the first set while leading 20-19 but failed to get the birdie over the net twice and let Han lead 21-20.

Linh then leveled 21-21 after Han put the shuttle out of bounds. Vietnam's hometown hero then scored two more points to secure the win in the first set.

It was Linh's strong offensive power in the first half that gave Han the run for her money.

However, the Chinese star's better training ended up prevailing. Han works with a personal coach, a luxury Linh doesn't have.

After consulting her coach, Han quickly adjusted her tactics and tempo in the second set to take back control.

In the next two sets, Linh made several errors and lost her stamina. Set two and three ended quickly with 21-8 and 21-5 victories for Han.

But analysts still considered Linh taking the battle to the third set a success for the Vietnamese star. In the last round, she defeated Indonesia's top female player Mariska Tunjung.

Linh's performance in the tournament earned her 4,800 more points in the world ranking, along with US$6,000 in prize money.