The world number 9 badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam only managed to win second place for the men’s singles at the Grand Prix Gold US Open after his 2-0 loss to a Japanese player in the final game on Sunday.
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| Nguyen Tien Minh |
In Los Angeles, the third seed Minh was beaten 21-17 21-18 by Sho Sasaki, who is ranked 15th in the world -- six levels lower than the Vietnamese rival.
Witnessing the game, Ho Chi Minh City Badminton Federation’s deputy chairwoman Nguyen Ngoc Lien said regretfully, “losing the final match is just like a failure at the entrance to paradise.”
During the 47-minute game, Minh was always behind his rival on the score board. In the second set, he managed to tie Sasaki 17-17 before falling back to 17-20 and finally 18-21.
The game was the sixth encounter of the two rivals. In the past five, Minh beat Sasaki on four occasions and lost one.
In the women’s singles event, Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan beat Sayaka Sato of Japan Saturday in the final to win her first international championship.
Tai, ranked 24th in the world by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), won the match 21-16 19-21 21-6 against the Japanese eighth seed, ranked 19th in the world.
A day earlier, the 17-year-old upset fifth-seeded Eriko Hirose of Japan in straight sets to advance to the final of the US$120,000 event.
Finals\' Results:
Men
Singles: Sho Sasaki (Japan) bt Nguyen Tien Minh (Vietnam) 21-17, 21-18
Doubles: Ko Sung Hyun-Lee Yong Dae (Korea) bt Howard Bach-Tony Gunawan (US) 21-9, 21-19
Women
Singles: Tai Tzu Ying (Taiwan) bt Sayaka Sato (Japan) 21-16, 19-21, 21-6
Doubles: Ha Jung Eun-Kim Min Jung (Korea) bt Jung Kyung Eun-Kim Ha Na (Korea) 14-21, 22-20, 21-18
Mixed doubles: Lee Yong Dae-Ha Jung Eun (Korea) bt Chen Hung Ling- Cheng Wen Hsing (Taipei) 21-19, 21-13
