Nguyen Tien Minh Advances Through Vietnam Open 2026 Qualifiers: A 43-Year-Old Veteran Still Leading Vietnamese Badminton with Experience

More than 300 athletes from 27 countries and territories have gathered in Ho Chi Minh City for the Vietnam Open 2026, a BWF Super 100 badminton tournament scheduled from September 8 to 13. The event offers valuable ranking points for younger players, but the spotlight has fallen on a familiar name: 43-year-old veteran Nguyen Tien Minh, the symbol of Vietnamese badminton, still fighting at the age when most athletes have long retired. In the men’s singles qualification round, Minh defeated the much younger Nguyen Hoang Thai Son to earn a place in the main draw. The result was not simply about fitness but about experience and sharp match reading. Thai Son is primarily a doubles player, with strength and speed but less tactical development in singles. Minh took advantage of that weakness by moving his opponent around the court and forcing errors. The victory may not have been spectacular, but it was a masterclass in controlled, opportunistic badminton. The significance of this win goes deeper than one qualification match. Minh is now ranked 254th in the world, far from his earlier top-ten peak, but he still chooses to compete. Other Vietnamese players are struggling: Le Duc Phat deals with knee and heel injuries and has needed pain-relief injections to play; Nguyen Hai Dang has already been eliminated. The event has revealed a generation gap in Vietnamese men’s singles, with veterans still carrying the torch. The tournament also features Nguyễn Thùy Linh, a leading Vietnamese women’s player, who was set to face 19-year-old rising star Xu Wen Jing. With many regional players competing, the event has become an important place for emerging talents to gain international exposure. Looking ahead, Minh will face Zhe Ying Wu in the main draw. Wu is a disciplined young player, likely to test the veteran’s stamina. But whatever happens next, the veteran has already sent a powerful message: in a sports world obsessed with numbers and titles, playing with love and resilience can define a career beyond any win or championship.