Tien Minh lost quickly in Vietnam International Challenger
Lin Kuan Ting was born in 2001, standing at 135 men's singles in the world, 32 places ahead of Tien Minh. But the performance on the field of Tay Ho Gymnasium shows the big gap between them.
Lin is tall and strong. He attacked fiercely, constantly launching "fire yard" smashes, making the audience admire. Tien Minh has a knack for defense, but can only shake his head at the rushing attacks, the ball goes to the field in difficult spots, close to the boundary line. The former Vietnamese number one tennis player rarely has a shuttlecock with more than four touches. He also suffered from mental illness, many times hitting outside or not through the net. Game one was one-sided, with a 21-7 victory for Lin.
Tien Minh turned to attack, though not his forte, in game two. He had some good smashes, missed the points. However, Lin quickly regained the position, continuing to deliver powerful smashes, to which some in the audience had to say that "just hearing the sound is enough". This young player once again ended the game early with a score of 21-6 to win tickets to continue. The Vietnamese audience, at the end of the match, gave Lin a round of applause.
Losing the match, Tien Minh bid farewell to Vietnam International Challenger - the tournament he was crowned in 2014. At the age of 40, the tennis player from Ho Chi Minh City could no longer maintain his form and often had to leave the tournament early. After 21 years of reigning at the number one position in Vietnam, Tien Minh also lagged behind junior Nguyen Hai Dang from March 15.
Besides Tien Minh and Hai Dang, the host also had Le Duc Phat compete. Including qualifying, he had three consecutive wins. However, the third round promises many difficulties for Duc Phat, when he encounters the number one Korean seed Heo Kwang Hee.
The Vietnam Internal Challenger takes place from March 21 to March 26 at the Tay Ho District Gymnasium, Hanoi. This year's tournament has 309 players from 17 countries and territories, with five events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. The champion player in each event will receive a prize of 1200 USD, the second prize is 720 USD.
