Tennis player Nguyen Thuy Linh entered the semi-finals of the German Open Badminton Tournament

Impressive performance of Nguyen Thuy Linh

Ratchanok Intanon is Thailand's number 1 tennis player, currently ranked 14th in the world. In 2016, she briefly reached number 1 in the world.

At the German Open, Intanon is the third seed. Meanwhile, Nguyen Thuy Linh is the number 1 Vietnamese tennis player with a world ranking of 20, and is also the seventh seed of this tournament.

The last time these two players met was at the US Open last year, when Intanon won convincingly.

Therefore, before this confrontation in the quarterfinals of the German Open, the Thai player was rated higher. But the developments on the field showed that Nguyen Thuy Linh's performance was better.

Right from the first set, the Vietnamese player took the advantage early on. From a 2-2 tie in the early points, Nguyen Thuy Linh began to break away to lead 6-2, 9-6... The gap between the two players gradually grew. Nguyen Thuy Linh was the one who won 21-13 in set 1.

Game 2 continued to witness the dominance of the Vietnamese player. Her strong attacking and scoring ability helped her take the lead again 6-2, 8-4…

The difference compared to game 1 was that Intanon tried not to let the gap get too deep like before. But that was not enough to help her tie the score. Nguyen Thuy Linh continued to win 21-15 in game 2, thereby winning a ticket to the semi-finals.

Aiming for Olympic tickets

Her next opponent is Kim Ga Eun, a Korean player currently ranked 13th in the world. At the German Open, Kim Ga Eun was the second seed in the tournament. At the 2023 China Masters, Kim won against Nguyen Thuy Linh.

For the Vietnamese tennis player, advancing far in the German Open Badminton Tournament has many meanings. Since the beginning of 2024, she has participated in two international tournaments but both stopped in the first round. Therefore, the improvement in this tournament is a positive sign for Nguyen Thuy Linh herself.

In addition, she will certainly be awarded quite a few points to maintain her ranking on the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifying rankings.

Currently, Thuy Linh is ranked 22nd, a safe position. However, the qualifying process will not end until the end of April. Therefore, she still has to maintain her form in international tournaments to avoid being surpassed by many players from other countries.