Nguyen Tien Minh wins Vietnam Open 2026 qualifier: At 43, he still knows how to read the match

On the afternoon of September 8, 2026, at the Vietnam Open 2026 qualifying round, Nguyen Tien Minh stepped onto the court as a player no longer at his peak. His opponent was fellow Vietnamese Nguyen Hoang Thai Son, a younger doubles specialist. When the match ended, it was the 43-year-old veteran who advanced with a convincing win. For Vietnamese badminton fans, Minh's smile after the decisive rally sent a clear message: he is not ready to stop yet. Vietnam Open 2026 is a BWF Super 100 event, a lower tier of the World Tour. The tournament attracted more than 300 athletes from 27 countries and territories and ran from September 8 to 13, 2026. For Vietnam, it was both a chance to earn ranking points and a test of squad depth before bigger autumn events. The match between Minh and Thai Son lacked detailed statistics such as shuttle speed or attack percentage, but it was a tactical duel. Thai Son had physical and speed advantages, yet struggled with singles movement. Minh controlled the pace, extended rallies and exploited errors. Minh had said his opponent was “not strong in singles,” and that shaped his game plan. Minh's victory underlined the value of experience over sheer power. He is ranked 254th in the world, and beating a doubles-focused player in qualifying says little about main-draw form. In the main draw, Minh will face Zhe Ying Wu from Chinese Taipei. Other Vietnamese players faced challenges. Le Duc Phat had to use painkilling injections because of knee and heel injuries. Nguyen Hai Dang lost early in qualifying. In women's singles, Nguyen Thuy Linh will meet 19-year-old Xu Wen Jing from Chinese Taipei. Vietnam Open 2026 did not feature many top Asian singles players. Nations like China, Indonesia and South Korea sent mostly young or mid-ranked players. That makes the draw more open, but the gap between Vietnamese badminton and the world’s best remains wide. For Minh, each match at this age is meaningful. He has said he still enjoys playing badminton. That joy, more than any statistic, keeps him going. Win or lose against Zhe Ying Wu, his presence at a home international at age 43 is already a memorable story for Vietnamese badminton.