Minh claims first international Badmington crown in Ha Noi

The only world top 10 athlete, Nguyen Tien Minh, had no rival at the Ciputra Hanoi - Yonex Sunrise Vietnam International Challenge.

The Vietnamese yesterday defeated the tournament's No 2 seed Chun Seang Tan of Malaysia 21-17, 21-13 to win the gold medal in his return to the competition after five years.


Minh, the tournament's No 1 seed, needed only 43 minutes to wrap- up the men's final match.

It was the duo's eighth meet in history, which saw Minh's sixth win. Yesterday's victory was his third in a row over the world No 50 seed.

The Hanoi Challenge is the first international title for the Olympian Minh, who since the beginning of the year was eliminated early in most of his Badminton World Federation competitions.

At the women's singles event, No 6 Shih Han Hung of Chinese Taipei took the gold after beating qualifier Yujing Jiang of China 21-18, 21-15 in 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, the men's doubles title went to Selvanus Geh and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia. The No 6 pair defeated No 2 Robin Middleton and Ross Smith from Australia 21-14, 21-13.

Also, Alfian Eko Prasetya and Annisa Saufika, No 7, of Indonesia trounced Fernando Kurniawan and Lok Yan Poon, No 3, of Hong Kong 21-14, 21-17 in the mixed doubles category.

The victories in the men's and mixed doubles surprised many people. However, the biggest surprise of the day and the tournament occurred in the last competition of the day when qualifier duo Yano Chiemi and Yumiko Nishiyama won the women's doubles. The Japanese disappointed No 6 pair Melvira Oklamona and Melati Daeva