No commendable successor to Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh at international level
The Vietnam Badminton Federation (VBF) is vexed with the fact that no other shuttler is worthy enough to fill the void when Nguyen Tien Minh will leave the arena. Tien Minh is the only shuttler from Vietnam who is placed among the top-100 players of the
world rankings conducted by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The dearth of talent in a country that has rich badminton culture is quite alarming.
The 28-year-old Tien Minh dominates the domestic arena as the rest of shuttlers of Vietnam are miles behind him in every aspect of the game. Tien Minh has worked very hard and picked up to the level of a world-class player who has currently occupied the
seventh spot in the world rankings.
In 2009, in addition to the home event of Vietnam Grand Prix, Tien Minh won the Thailand Open Grand Prix and the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold. He proved his mettle by beating top shuttlers from all over the world on different occasions. The 28-year-old
remained highly dedicated and honest in his training sessions. He has been working under the supervision of local and foreign coaches, which helped him in improving his skills in different ways.
However, he showed signs of becoming slow now as his recent dud in the Australian Open Grand Prix Gold 2011 is quite upsetting for him. Despite the fact that he was second seed in the event, he could not deliver well and lost to the sixth seed, Sho Sasaki
of Japan, who also won the event in the category of Men’s Singles.
It is surprising fact that Tien Minh, who is one of the top shuttlers in the world, belongs to a country that does not have any other shuttler even in the top 100 positions of the world rankings. This is due to the poor policies of the VBF that has completely
failed to bridge the gap between the top seed Tien Minh and the rest of the lot in the Men’s Singles. The training system is also not up to the mark with the current standards of the game.
Tien Minh is at the verge of retirement as he has played for his country for more than seven years and won many international titles including the home event of Vietnam Grand Prix. He is the only shuttler of Vietnam who won the Men’s Singles title in the
history of this event.
The second seed of Vietnam in Men’s Singles is Nguyen Noang Nam, who is the next hope for the country. Noang Nam is far behind from the level of the top seed, Tien Minh, who is expected to leave international badminton in a couple of years.
The VBF needs to take certain measures in the coaching and training areas. World class training facilities should be provided to young shuttlers. The governing body should also organise domestic events with regular intervals to promote the game in the country.
These domestic events will help in identifying new talent, which will lead the country in all major events in the world of badminton. The VBF needs to act as quickly as possible before it becomes too late to avoid the impending downfall of badminton in Vietnam.
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