An international badminton tournament, the Viet Nam Challenge, will be held in the capital from April 21-26, announced general secretary of the Ha Noi Badminton Federation Duong Thi Lien.

It will be the first of two Badminton World Federation (BWF) events to be organised in Viet Nam this year. The second will be the Badminton Grand Prix in HCM City from October 6-11.

The event will be Ha Noi’s first go at hosting of a BWF tournament, according to Lien.

In the last two years Ha Noi organised a smaller local tournament, the World Stars Badminton Tournament, with the participation of strong players from Indonesia and China.

“Ha Noi wishes to organise a big tournament to attract the world’s best players. It’s a great chance for Vietnamese players to reach the world level,” said Lien.

HCM City has held low level BWF tournaments over the past five years that helped to train top Vietnamese players including Nguyen Tien Minh, Nguyen Quang Minh, Nguyen Hoang Hai and Le Ngoc Nguyen Nhung.

Top player Nguyen Tien Minh, who ranks 15th in the world, won the top spot in both tournaments in separate years; the Robot Satellite in 2006 and the Robot Challenge in 2008.

The Capital has been a forerunner in developing Vietnamese sports, including fencing, wushu, diving, and gymnastics in the 1980s.

But Ha Noi has yet to dominate in badminton.

Although Ha Noi began implementation of a training programme for young talents in the sport in the early 1990s, the sport lacked sufficient sponsorship until 2006.

That year, Ha Noi’s badminton team was sponsored by Citra West Lake City Development Company to train a squad of youngsters including Duong Phuong Nam, Bui Bang Duc, Dao Manh Thang, Nguyen Ngoc Tung and Duong Van Khanh.

Nam, 21, was called up to the national team to compete in the World Badminton Junior Championships in South Korea and the Asian Championship in Malaysia to play in the men’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles events two years ago.

“Sponsorship is the first step to bring Ha Noi badminton to the world level. Local athletes will have more chances to compete in international tournaments around the world,” said Lien.

In recent years, Ha Noi has invited foreign coaches from China to train Hanoian athletes, and organised international competitions in the capital to create chances for young players to test their skills.

VietNamNet/VNS