LookAtVietnam – Second seed Nguyen Tien Minh yesterday, July 22, beat host rival Viboonsin Sittichai 21-17, 21-9 in the second round of the SCG Thailand Grand Prix Gold 2009.

Nguyen Tien Minh.

With the support of Thailand fans, Viboonsin kept pace with the Beijing Olympian in the first half of the first set but flagged at the 17th point, letting Minh grab four straight points to win 21-17.

Viboonsin failed to recover in the second half while Minh mixed strong spikes and drops near the net to win 21-9.

Minh’s next rival will be Kim Sa-rang of South Korea, who defeated Thai Pisit Poodchalat 21-16, 21-19.

Minh is tipped to reach the final against Malaysia’s Choong Hann Wong, ranked No 1, who yesterday took only 22 minutes to beat Thai Paipisut Vinai 21-12, 21-12.

Thailand had the most players at the competition, many of who were sent packing yesterday, among them Pisantanakul Panuwat who was ousted 14-21, 6-21 by Hong Kong Wei Ng, ranked No 4.

Third seed Ponsana Booksak of Thailand played countryman Sumretphol Pheerawut in a later match yesterday and fifth-ranked Tanongsak Saensom-boonsuk met teammate Thongnuam Prinyawat.

There were no surprises on the women’s side where all top players passed to the next round.

Chen Wang of Hong Kong, No 2, beat Tirapongpatana Leena of Thailand 21-17, 21-13; No 4 Kaori Imapeppu of Japan beat Lee Hyun-jin of South Korea 21-14, 22-20; Buranaprasertsuk Porntip, No 6, of Thailand beat Panuga Riou of England 21-11, 21-8.

Other seeds kicked off their games later in the evening.

The Thailand Grand Prix is the third season of Badminton World Federation’s Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix with 13 tournaments contested.

The final matches are scheduled for Sunday in Bangkok’s Nimibutr National Stadium with prize money of US$120,000.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News