Vietnam’s badminton ace Nguyen Tien Minh has announced he will compete in a tournament in Melbourne, Australia, skipping one in Hanoi because the former is more challenging.

Minh, ranked eighth in the world, said the Australian Open Grand Prix 2011 held next month (April 5-10) will attract stronger rivals than the International Ciputra Ha Noi-Viet Nam Challenge 2011 (March 29 to April 3).

The winner of the men’s singles championship at the US$120,000 competition in Melbourne will be awarded 7,000 points while the winner of the men’s singles title at the $15,000 contest at home can get only 4,000 points.

The 28-year-old Minh, the only Vietnamese player to enter the world top 100, is seeded second at the event in Melbourne.

On Wednesday March 16, Becamex IDC signed another one year contract to pay Minh VND50 million ($2,395) per month as long he remains within the world’s top 10 and half as much if he is among the top 25.