Vietnam badminton towards SEA Games: Having a medal is a success

For many years in a row, Vietnamese badminton only set a goal at the SEA Games to have a medal. Behind that humble destination is a relentless effort when our opponents are world-class badminton powers…

A difficult Tien Minh makes a spring

“I will work towards the goal of winning a bronze medal at the SEA Games.” That controversial statement of Nguyen Tien Minh came many years ago, when he was still in top form. But only those who know well about the level of badminton in Vietnam with other countries in the region understand that Tien Minh did not set low goals when he said that.

Tien Minh is still the mainstay of Vietnamese badminton at the age of 39

It can be said that Tien Minh is a very special case of Vietnamese badminton. When his colleagues were still afraid of going abroad, Tien Minh spent his own money to fight a series of large and small international tournaments. The result he won was the world bronze medal in 2013 and the 5th place in the ranking of professional tennis players.

But even when reaching the peak of his career, Tien Minh still only occupies a small corner of the world’s badminton table. International fans rarely mention the phenomenon of Tien Minh when beside him there are not only 1, but 2 living legends of badminton: Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei. The fact that Lee has Malaysian citizenship means that he often appears at the SEA Games with Tien Minh.

During their playing career, Tien Minh and Lee Chong Wei faced each other 12 times. Vietnamese tennis players only won 1 match. Tien Minh himself once said that when he won against Lee, he was in high form but also… I don’t understand how he could win. Because at his peak, Lee was the quintessential Tien Minh with his aggressive attack style.

But Southeast Asia badminton is not alone Lee Chong Wei or Malaysia reaching the top of the world. The land of ten thousand islands is considered to be the only counterweight of international badminton that can compete on a par with China. During the time when Tien Minh played, Indonesia also had another living legend playing, Taufik Hidayat.

The basic difference of badminton Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam is that they always have the next class of athletes with similar qualifications to their seniors. Hidayat retired, Indonesia introduced Jonatan Christie, Anthony Ginting. Lee Chong Wei is no longer competing, Malaysia also has “Lee Second” Lee Zii Jia, the reigning SEA Games champion in men’s singles. Lee Zii Jia is currently also a tennis player in the top 10 in the world.

Lee Zii Jia and many Southeast Asian players will not compete in the SEA Games

Besides Malaysia and Indonesia, badminton in Southeast Asia in recent years has also witnessed the growth of two emerging forces. Thailand shows the fruit of its investment in badminton when they own the world No. 1 player in women’s singles Ratchanok Intanon. Besides, young talent Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand has just won the German Open. Singapore currently has Loh Kean Yew, the defending world champion.

In that context of Southeast Asian badminton, Vietnam seems to be lagging far behind other countries in the region. Tien Minh alone cannot make the spring, and the truth is that he cannot play at his peak when he is nearly 40 years old. The fact that Tien Minh continues to compete in the 31st SEA Games has a lot of meaning in terms of spiritual symbolism, instead of being worthy of competition as before.

Missing green army rubbing

At the badminton world championship 2021, Singaporean player Loh Kean Yew surprised with a series of victories such as splitting bamboo. He defeated world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the first round, then went straight to the final and won the championship. Experts say that Loh’s rapid progress came from a long training trip in Dubai, where he practiced every day with… Axelsen.

Duc Phat does not have many opportunities to compete with international players

Contrary to Loh’s story, Tien Minh left the tournament with a fiery match in the first round against Danish player Hans-Kristian Vittinghus. 2 athletes near the age of forty offered a spectacular match lasting more than 1 hour. After the match, Tien Minh confided: “If only Vietnamese players could practice and rub with about 4-5 friends like Vittinghus every day, we would improve very quickly”.

The lack of green troops equivalent to the level to rub and improve the capacity of Vietnamese badminton is not strange to those who are interested in this subject. In the women’s badminton category, Thuy Linh and Vu Thi Trang often have to practice with their male colleagues. Meanwhile, young athletes in men’s singles like Hai Dang and Duc Phat have almost no one to practice with.

As an athlete (athlete) with the Ho Chi Minh City delegation with Tien Minh, Hai Dang was fortunate to be taught and guided by his elder brother from practice matches every day. So what about Duc Phat? In addition to the rare encounters with the living legend of Vietnamese badminton, Duc Phat often maintains his form by practicing with… the best tennis players. As a result, Phat could not confirm his name outside of Vietnam.

Phat’s lack of international experience was shown when he competed in the Slovak Open and the Portuguese international badminton tournament last time. Phat won quite easily against opponents from Europe, but lost quite quickly when facing athletes from Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese tennis player does not have the necessary age when competing in international competitions even though he is 24 years old.

It seems that the only top player Phat can beat is Tien Minh, because the two have faced each other many times and understand each other too well. That no longer works when Phat Go abroad competes, where there are always hundreds of athletes competing with many different modes of competition. Therefore, it would be unfair for Phat if he was assigned the goal of winning the SEA Games medal, where there are always athletes in the top 20 in the world competing.

Many movement badminton tournaments in Vietnam have bigger prize money than professional badminton

Positive and negative

Vietnamese badminton still faces many difficulties, but positive signals still appear over time. The first is that the system of national championships and semi-professional tournaments is still held in the context of complicated epidemic developments. Besides, the movement of badminton training and competition in Vietnam is always maintained with the bonus level increasing year by year.

Vietnamese businesses have long been famous for paying bonuses to semi-professional badminton. They organize out-of-pocket badminton tournaments with prize money up to tens of thousands of dollars for the champion. That partly encourages people to practice and compete in badminton, but inadvertently makes the professional path of the sport sport This is blocked.

The trend of “amateurization of badminton” in Vietnam is a negative signal for the development of this sport. Why try to compete professionally and internationally, when you can play badminton in the country with a prize of hundreds of millions of dong in a movement tournament? The answer to that question has made many Vietnamese badminton players lose their ambition to go international like Tien Minh before.

“People often say I make a lot of money from badminton, but no one knows exactly how much money I and my family spend to play professionally. In Vietnam, there are many athletes with better qualities than me. , stronger than me, but you lack the enthusiasm to burn with passion.” That sharing of Tien Minh dates from many years ago, and is still valid until now.

Vietnamese badminton has gradually developed and has a certain mark. After the tournaments, now is the time for the athletes of the 9x and 10x generations to turn to the professional path. With Tien Minh as a symbol throughout the two SEA Games at home, Vietnamese badminton will have to aim for the next goals in the future when his retirement date is very close.

By Order (Police)