Badminton players produce high form before losing out at the Olympics

Olympics

Việt Nam’s Lê Đức Phát tries to save a point during his match against Prannoy Kumar of India at the Paris Games. VNA/VNS Photos

PARIS No Vietnamese badminton players are left at the Paris Olympics after Lê Đức Phát was beaten in the men’s singles category early August 1 Hà Nội time.

Phát was strong to begin his game against world No 13 Prannoy Kumar of India in Group K’s second match.

The Vietnamese, standing in the world at number 71, created many difficulties for Kumar and took lead 11-9 in the first set.

He continued to show outstanding performance before winning 21-16.

Kumar changed tactics in the second set. The Indian went ahead to score 4-0 and maintain his lead to 12-7 and 15-9. He then sped up with consecutive hits that Phát could not return, winning 21-11.

In the decisive set, Phát came back strong in the first few minutes, but it was clear that Kumar was in a higher level and he eased to win 21-12 to wrap up the match.

As the Group K winner Kumar secured the only ticket to the next round, while Phát was out of the tournament.

Nguyễn Thùy Linh produced a good second match at the 2024 Olympics.

Earlier, national female No 1 Nguyễn Thùy Linh was also stopped after losing 20-22, 20-22 to Zhang Beiwen of the US on July 31.

Playing against a rival standing 15 ranks above her in the world rankings, Linh, No 26, surprised with her remarkable performance with a balanced first set.

It was 17-17 for both when Linh suddenly lost her concentration for a few seconds and Zhang went ahead to win 20-22.

The second set was nearly the same. Both athletes rotated to take lead until 18-all and 20-all. It was Zhang again to score two points in a row to earn her win.

With one win and one loss, Linh placed second in Group K and will be heading home. At the Tokyo Games, she was also stopped at the group stage.

During her match, Linh received strong support from a group of Vietnamese students studying in France.

Supporter Hoài Nam said it was not easy to buy ticket for the match and at a price of 100 euros each it was expensive for students. However, his group agreed to pay to encourage not only Linh, but also the Việt Nam Team at the Olympics.

Thùy LInh (second, left) takes photo with Vietnamese supporters after her game.

Nam said they would continue to try and get tickets to watch Vietnamese athletes in other sports.

On August 1, only archer Lê Quốc Phong will compete. He will shoot against Dan Olaru of Moldova in the last 32 round of the men’s individual recurve.

Earlier, the match between Đỗ Thị Ánh Nguyệt and Mobina Fallah of Iran was delayed due to the rain. VNS