Results 1 to 17 of 376
07-17-2006, 11:55 PM #1
Nguyen Tien Minh - Vietnam's Hottest!
Vietnam's best athlete is none other than their badminton no.1, Nguyen Tien Minh, who recently opened many eyes for his prowess on the Asian circuit badminton courts.
"Tien Minh is ranked 38th in the world, the highest world ranking for a single Vietnamese athlete."
For one that does not have the best support and facilities at home, Tien Minh has persevered and come a long way to achieve recognition and success.
I salute him!
An interview with Thanh Ha of Vietnam News on 16 July 2006 is reproduced below:
Tien Minh talked about his involvement with badminton as a young teenager, his early successes, his decision to turn pro, his strengths and weaknesses, his training, support from his parents and limitations in Vietnam, opportunities to compete and train overseas, his goals, his dreams, his plans and setting targets.
Minh beats odds on road to Beijing
Badminton whiz Nguyen Tien Minh is Viet Nam’s highest-ranking athlete internationally in any sport, achieving excellence, he tells Thanh Ha, of Inner Sanctum, without sponsors, strong local competition or highly professional training.
Nguyen Tien Minh, 23, is now a key player on the HCM City and national badminton teams. He has no real rival in national tournaments and has catapulted to fame in his sport, especially after winning the men’s title at the Asian Badminton Championships-Robot Viet Nam as well as placing in the top three places in the Satellite series in Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Tien Minh is ranked 38th in the world, the highest world ranking for a single Vietnamese athlete.
Inner Sanctum: When did you start your career as a professional badminton player?
I played badminton when I was very small. When I was 11, I went to practise the sport at the Tinh Vo Club in District 5, HCM City. At first, my mother strongly objected to my decision because she worried that I would spend less time studying. Moreover, at that time, badminton was not as popular as it is nowadays.
She thought that I had no future. Fortunately, my father supported me. Also at the time, I won six gold medals within three months, so she gradually came to realise I could succeed.
At the age of 18, when they saw my passion which brought me many medals, my parents fully supported me.
At that time I had two choices, to take university exams or pursue the sport. Finally I chose badminton, and I have never regretted the decision.
Inner Sanctum: Did you meet many difficulties when playing in professional competitions?
It is a long way from being an amateur to being a professional athlete. In the past, I played haphazardly and without real training.
I know that my disadvantage is my small size. I am also not strong at upper attacks and I have to perfect my basic technical skills.
Vietnamese badminton is not as professional as other countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Denmark, so here there is a small number of high level players and not much competition.
One important disadvantage to a professional player is that Viet Nam has not allotted enough money for international events, so we lack experience.
Moreover, we have no donations (sponsors), so Vietnamese players rarely participate in big tournaments.
Inner Sanctum: How do you practise everyday?
My parents and friends play a key role by supporting my training. They not only give me the best conditions but also tell me what my strengths and weaknesses are, while my coaches show me how to bring into play my strong points as well as limit the disadvantages.
I have two training shifts per day under coach Nguyen Anh Hoang. I have my own practise schedule at home, and exercises to improve my physical strength.
It took me time to become adjusted to so much work.
Now, apart from my trainer’s lessons, I practise on my own, which helps me to perfect my technique.
My achievements today are also due to training abroad in China, Malaysia, Germany and playing in international competitions.
Inner Sanctum: At last year’s tournament, badminton experts worried about players’ physical strength. How did you increase your strength?
Fortunately, after a course abroad, a coach told me that I’d better run intensely everyday.
I did it because it is necessary to have good physical strength before improving technique.
I run everyday and lift weights, which gives me strong arms and endurance. Good nutrition also plays an important role.
To stay at a peak level of fitness, I need to try my best all the time. It is a lesson I learned after competing against strong rivals.
In my free time, I listen to the music, read books and surf the Internet. But I always consider badminton my number one passion. (Wonder whether TM visits BC? He'll be pleasantly surprised to find himself talking here! )
I have no special secret. My parents do not ask me to do house work. They create the best conditions for me to practise badminton. I think that when a person chooses a career he should put his all into it. Success only comes to people who try their best everyday.
I consider each tournament a challenge and I always try to conquer it.
Inner Sanctum: What can you say about your success in general and the HCM City team at May’s National Badminton Team Championships?
I am very happy about the victory. I have contributed to victory and the team confirmed we are the strongest rivals in the nation.
However, I have to practise much harder when our opponents are stronger. I saw some players and teams like Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Thai Nguyen whose badminton has just received attention recently but have been securing good results. But they have limited endurance and speed.
Apart from that, as I said above, local players also have no international experiences. They just participate in big events once or twice a year while Thai players compete in at least ten tournaments annually.
Inner Sanctum: What about the scholarship to train in Malaysia?
The scholarship is from the National Sports and Physical Training Committee and is supported by the International Olympics Committee.
Under the scholarship, I have chance to go to Malaysia, one of the countries where badminton is very developed, in two years (if nothing has changed) in order to prepare for the Roads to Beijing Olympic 2008 programme.
I am one of eight Vietnamese players who received the scholarship.
I believe that I won the scholarship partly due to my efforts but mostly because athletic officials create many opportunities to help me improve.
Inner Sanctum: What are your plans for the coming events, especially the Viet Nam Open tournament in August?
One of my goals for the year was to win a Satellite event. I did it. Now, I will focus on the Viet Nam Open, which has been pushed back to November.
I DREAM to win an Open tournament and have a chance to take part in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Before each international event, I always set a target for myself to at least earn a berth in the 1/16 round.
I will play badminton until I am 28, then move to work as a coach. — VNS
07-18-2006, 02:00 AM #2
Just thought I would post some pictures of him.
07-18-2006, 04:28 AM #3
07-18-2006, 01:55 PM #4
please don't dissapoint me with a title like that... i was expecting a hot vietnamese girl
07-18-2006, 07:28 PM #5
07-18-2006, 10:07 PM #6Originally Posted by ChocoChipWaffle
07-18-2006, 10:36 PM #7
Tien Minh at Aviva Open Singapore 2006
Thanks for your pics, smasher_master and seawell.
I managed to find some pics of NTM when he was recently in Singapore during the Singapore Open 2006. He defeated Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland in either Round 1 or 2. Unfortunately, in Round 3, he lost to our own local hero, Ronald Susilo, in three gruelling games lasting more than an hour. Ronald was lucky as Tien Minh was very exhausted, having to play in Men's Doubles as well and in the process, he was also very unlucky to be hit on the jaw by his partner.
07-20-2006, 01:48 AM #8
Cheers Asian Satellite Championships 2004
More pics of Nguyen Tien Minh when I first saw him playing in Singapore's Satellite 2004. Even then, he was the best Vietnamese player and he was unfortunate to meet Singapore's Kendrick Lee in the semi-final and lost.
Kendrick went on to beat Kuan Beng Hong in the final.
Many may not have seen Vietnam's ladies in action and therefore I will post some pics of their XD combination during the Satellite. Although new to the international spotlight, these girls acquitted themselves quite admirably.
07-20-2006, 02:04 AM #9
Manila SEA Games 2005
As expected, Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore were unable to match the strengths of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia during the SEA Games in Manila last December.
Vietnam's men lost to Indonesia in the team event and here I had pictures of Tien Minh playing first singles against Taufik Hidayat. No prize for guessing the winner but TM did give a good account of himself.
In the group pic, you have a glimpse of the entire Vietnamese team of ladies and men.
07-20-2006, 02:08 AM #10
SEA Games photos
Here are the pics which I could not attach to my previous post somehow:
07-20-2006, 02:24 AM #11
I sincerely hope the sudden interest you are showing in Nguyen Tien Minh does not indicate Singapore is interested in him.
But all in all, Tien Minh deserves to be noticed as he is defo making impact.
I did mention to look out for our Nothern neighbours didn't I
The Borneon BaddyNut
07-20-2006, 03:24 AM #12Originally Posted by jug8man
But any country, particularly the less badminton-endowed, would be pleased to have him as he is such a disciplined, humble, well-adjusted and goal-oriented player. Do you think he deserves mention in BC?
Having NTM in the Singapore team will be fantastic as we now have an in-form Kendrick, a recovering Ronald Susilo, the two Indonesian brothers and other up-and-coming youngsters to keep them company.
BTW, probably you have noticed that Kendrick beat Roslin yesterday in R1 of the Macau Open. If Kendrick can overcome S Korea's Park Sung Hwan in R2, he will probably have to face Lee Chong Wei, who was extended to three games by Hong Kong's Agus Hariyanto, in R3. Then it will be a good test to find out how much Kendrick has improved.
07-20-2006, 05:10 AM #13
I defo Agree 100 times.
Tien Minh is an excelent breed of both talent and character. As mentioned, he does deserve his own spotlight in BC
Off topic, it's great to see Kendrick doing well. Singapore is defo making great waves ! Lee Chong Wei be the acid test for Kendrick as WCH was for Lin Dan. We'll find out soon enough!!
Roslin's future for the next six months or so is pretty much rock solid with his trip to Denmark so no one & no Malaysian will worry or pity his loss.
The Borneon BaddyNut
Originally Posted by Loh
07-20-2006, 11:22 PM #14
It's great to see some vietnamese players on the international circuit
07-21-2006, 12:05 AM #15Originally Posted by GunBlade008
We have an ex-Vietnam national player who has just completed his computer science degree from our local uni and is now working for IBM. We love to play badminton with him.
07-30-2006, 09:32 AM #16Originally Posted by Loh
07-30-2006, 09:20 PM #17
In regards to Loh, yes my background is from Vietnam, but i was born in Canada, so I don't really know what I am =P. I have a friend that is Vietnamese as well, and we intensely play badminton with each other. We used to skip some classes at our college just to play!
By quycoctu in forum Russian / US / Canadian / Vietnam Open 2011Replies: 5: 08-27-2011, 09:56 PM
By quycoctu in forum Russian / US / Canadian / Vietnam Open 2011Replies: 7: 08-26-2011, 07:50 PM
By quycoctu in forum Russian / US / Canadian / Vietnam Open 2011Replies: 5: 08-25-2011, 03:55 AM
By xymaerts in forum Singapore Open / Indonesia Open 2009Replies: 64: 06-11-2009, 01:16 PM
By BlaZe in forum Asian Games 2006 - BadmintonReplies: 4: 12-06-2006, 01:42 AM