Nguyễn Tiến Minh

Nguyễn Tiến Minh (born February 12, 1983) is a Vietnamese badminton player. His best achievement to date was the bronze medal at the World Championship in 2013. Nguyen Tien Minh versus Chou Tien-chen in the final of 2014 U.S. Open

Career Introduced to badminton by his father at the early age of 10, Nguyen Tien Minh was immediately captivated by the sport. The interest soon developed into a passion which led to Tien Minh's crucial decision in 2001 when the athlete was 18 years old: to take on the path of becoming a professional badminton player instead of carrying on his education as his family wished. The young man's determination soon demonstrated its fruitful aspects when he was recruited into the national team in the same year. However, Tien Minh's career did not become well known nationwide until 2002 when he, at the age of 19, defeated the long time national champion, Nguyễn Phú Cường, and won the gold medal for the men's singles category.

Nevertheless, despite Tien Minh's quick progress, the badminton player was receiving a salary of less than 150 US dollars a month, as most Vietnamese athletes were at the time. After years of contributing to the nation's sport team, while his ranking has been progressing significantly and rapidly, Tien Minh's income has only been increased by around 50 dollars. Vietnamese athletes, with incomes much higher than that of Tien Minh's, normally have specially assigned specialists to look after their every aspect, such as diet, injuries, and endurance training, not to mention all the top ranking sporting facilities provided for by the government. On the other side of the scale, he has been trained in an environment with nothing but poor equipment and has to rely mostly on his family's financial support, the effort of his few coaches, and the contributions of his teammates.

Tien Minh is portrayed by a common description in his home country, "the athlete with a herculean progress".

World Championship 2013 Nguyen Tien Minh came into the world championship seeded #7. His previous best achievement at a world championship was to get to the quarter-final round at the 2011 championship in London, where he lost to Peter Gade of Denmark in three sets.

The first match was an easy affair (21–8, 21–11) against the New Zealand player Joe Wu, who ranked 110.

The second match against the German Dieter Domke turned out to be quite tight. He started well, but then faded, and almost lost the first set. He was able to close out the set 24–22 though. He then won the second set 21–17.

In the next round, Tien Minh played the Spaniard Pablo Abián. Tien Minh lost the first set 15–21, but came back strongly and easily won the next two sets 21–9, 21–10.

The quarterfinal match between Nguyen Tien Minh and Jan Ø. Jørgensen, rank #9, was a three-setter. Both players knew a lot was at stake here: the winner not only got to the semi-final, but would also be guaranteed a medal (the two losers in the semi-final both win bronze medals). That would be the first medal for both players at a world championship. Tien Minh won in three set match (21–8, 17–21, 22–20). He became the first Vietnamese to win a medal at the world championship.

In the semi-final against Lin Dan, Tien Minh lost 17–21 15–21. Despite the semi-final loss, the bronze medal was still a huge success for him.

Immediately after the championship, Tien Minh was nominated by the governmental sports authority of Vietnam (the TCTDTT - Bureau of Sports and Physical Activities) for an Order of Labor, 2nd class. He had been awarded the Order of Labor, 3rd class in 2011, also for his achievements and excellency in the field of sports.

Personal life Nguyen Tien Minh opened a sports apparel and equipment store named Tien Minh Shop in Ho Chi Minh City in early 2016.

In December 2016, Tien Minh married his long-time girlfriend Vũ Thị Trang. Vũ is also a badminton player and has been competing alongside Tien Minh throughout many international tournaments.

39 as of 2022, Nguyen Tien Minh's 13th time attending the BWF World Championships is a current world record.

Achievements

BWF World Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2013 Tianhe Sports Center, Guangzhou, China Lin Dan 17–21, 15–21 Bronze Bronze

Asian Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2019 Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China Kento Momota 18–21, 8–21 Bronze Bronze

SEA Games Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2007 Vongchavalitkul University, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Taufik Hidayat 15–21, 21–14, 14–21 Bronze Bronze 2013 Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium, Naypyidaw, Myanmar Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka 21–13, 12–21, 20–22 Bronze Bronze 2017 Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Jonatan Christie 11–21, 16–21 Bronze Bronze 2021 Bac Giang Gymnasium, Bắc Giang, Vietnam Loh Kean Yew 15–21, 21–10, 21–23 Bronze Bronze

BWF Grand Prix (10 titles, 3 runners-up) The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2008 Vietnam Open Chan Yan Kit 24–22, 21–18 Winner 2009 Thailand Open Boonsak Ponsana 21–16, 21–13 Winner 2009 Chinese Taipei Open Wong Choong Hann 21–11, 21–14 Winner 2009 Vietnam Open Chong Wei Feng 21–7, 19–21, 21–14 Winner 2010 Australian Open Yogendran Khrishnan 21–14, 21–11 Winner 2011 U.S. Open Sho Sasaki 17–21, 18–21 Runner-up 2011 Vietnam Open Sho Sasaki 21–13, 21–17 Winner 2012 Australian Open Chen Jin 11–21, 12–21 Runner-up 2012 Vietnam Open Takuma Ueda 21–14, 21–19 Winner 2012 Chinese Taipei Open Chou Tien-chen 21–11, 21–17 Winner 2013 U.S. Open Wong Wing Ki 18–21, 21–17, 21–18 Winner 2013 Chinese Taipei Open Son Wan-ho 21–19, 9–21, 18–21 Runner-up 2014 U.S. Open Chou Tien-chen 21–19, 14–21, 21–19 Winner BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (13 titles, 4 runners-up) Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2004 Vietnam Satellite Ahn Hyun-suk 15–13, 9–15, 10–15 Runner-up 2004 Malaysia Satellite Lee Tsuen Seng 15–11, 9–15, 15–12 Winner 2006 Vietnam Satellite Jeffer Rosobin 21–17, 21–12 Winner 2008 Vietnam International Chong Wei Feng 21–17, 10–21, 26–24 Winner 2009 Vietnam International Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka 21–13, 21–15 Winner 2014 Vietnam International Tan Chun Seang 21–17, 21–13 Winner 2015 White Nights Vladimir Malkov 16–21, 12–21 Runner-up 2015 Sydney International Zulfadli Zulkiffli 21–11, 21–12 Winner 2016 Waikato International Shih Kuei-chun 21–23, 21–8, 21–8 Winner 2016 Finnish Open Kanta Tsuneyama 10–21, 14–21 Runner-up 2016 Vietnam International Wang Tzu-wei 22–20, 21–16 Winner 2016 Vietnam International Series Lim Chi Wing 21–14, 23–21 Winner 2017 Vietnam International Khosit Phetpradab 21–14, 21–17 Winner 2018 Iran Fajr International Phạm Cao Cường 14–15, 11–13, 13–11, 7–11 Runner-up 2019 North Harbour International Gao Zhengze 21–13, 21–15 Winner 2019 Waikato International Gao Zhengze 14–21, 21–16, 21–17 Winner 2019 Lagos International Misha Zilberman 21–18, 25–23 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament

Record against top-5 players Nguyễn Tiến Minh's record against players who have been ranked world no. 5 or higher is as follows:

PlayerMatchesRecordWin%Last MatchNumber 1 ranked players Lin Dan 8 0–80%Lost (21–16, 12–21, 12–21) at 2019 BWF World Championships First Round Lee Chong Wei 14 1–137.7%Lost (10–21, 5–21) at 2013 Japan Super Series Semifinal Chen Long 5 1–425%Won by walkover at 2019 Badminton Asia Championships Quarterfinal Viktor Axelsen 1 0–10%Lost (16–21, 17–21) at 2014 BWF World Championships Third Round Son Wan-ho 6 3–443%Lost (17–21, 16–21) at 2014 Malaysia Super Series Premier First Round Kento Momota 8 3–538%Lost (18–21, 8-21) at 2019 Badminton Asia Championships Semifinal Srikanth Kidambi 3 1–233%Lost (18–21, 21–19, 14–21) at 2015 Singapore Super Series First Round Lee Hyun-il 2 2–0100%Won (21–15, 15–21, 21–13) at 2011 Indonesia Super Series Premier First Round Peter Gade 7 0–70%Lost (17–21, 13–21) at 2011 BWF World Championships Quarterfinal Bao Chunlai 6 2–433%Lost (11–21, 12–21) at 2011 Yonex OCBC US Open Grand Prix Gold Quarterfinal Taufik Hidayat 6 1–517%Lost (21–10, 7–21, 9-21) at 2013 Malaysia Super Series First RoundNumber 2 ranked players Jan Ø. Jørgensen 8 6–275%Won (21–8, 17–21, 22–20) at 2013 BWF World Championships Quarterfinal Chen Jin 4 0–40%Lost (11–21, 12–21) at 2012 Australia Open Grand Prix Gold Final Chou Tien-chen 5 3–260%Lost (12–21, 14–21) at 2015 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold Third RoundNumber 3 ranked players Simon Santoso 5 0–50%Lost (20–22, 21–15, 13–21) at 2015 Chinese Taipei Masters Grand Prix Second Round Du Pengyu 2 2–250%Lost (19–21, 15–21) at 2013 Indonesia Super Series Premier First Round Kenichi Tago 3 1–233%Lost (21–19, 10–21, 9-21) at 2012 Korea Open Super Series Premier First Round Tommy Sugiarto 7 6–185%Lost (22–20, 19–21, 15–21) at 2013 Singapore Super Series Semifinal Sony Dwi Kuncoro 4 2–250%Won (21–15, 28–26) at 2012 Vietnam Open Grand Prix SemifinalNumber 4 ranked players Boonsak Ponsana 5 3–260%Won (21–19, 21–19) at 2015 Mexico City Grand Prix Second Round Hu Yun 10 5–550%Won (22–20, 21–3) at 2015 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold Second Round