Top Vietnamese badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh won the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold on August 30,

Ecstatic: Nguyen Tien Minh beat Wong Chong Han of Malaysia in the final of the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold on August 30.

Minh is currently the world No 9 and was seeded No 3 in the tournament, while Han is the world No 12 and was seeded No 6 in the event.

To reach to the final, Minh beat Japan’s Kazuteru Kozai 2-0 in the first round, and went on to best Thailand’s Tanongsak 2-1 in the second round. In the quarter-final, he easily beat Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia, who is the son of former 1983 world champion Icuk Sugiarto, 2-0.

In the semi-final on Saturday, Minh played Malaysia’s Mohd Hafiz Hashim, seeded No 15.

Hashim, ranked 29 in the world, was trounced by Minh 21-13, 21-11 in the same event last year, when Hashim was ranked 57th in the world and Minh 24th.

But in this year’s event, Minh won 2-0 (21-18, 21-16).

In last year’s semi-final, Minh lost to Hashim’s brother Muhammad Roslin Hashim. This is Minh’s second victory this year, after winning the Thailand Grand Prix in July.

As the winner of the tournament, Minh received a monetary prize of US$12,750.

His standing in the world ranking table is expected to rise next month.

In October, Minh will take part in Viet Nam Open.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News