Vietnam’s top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh has advanced to the Yonex Open Japan Super Series quarterfinals in Tokyo while the world’s number one Lee Chong wei has bowed out.

Minh, who climbed one place to eighth in the world rankings released on Thursday, took a straight-set 21-10, 21-18 victory over 30th-ranked Sho Sasaki of Japan.

The only Vietnamese player to enter the world’s top one hundred will face Sasaki’s compatriot, world number 89 Kazuteru Kozai, who beat countryman Koichi Saeki, the world’s 73rd, 21-15, 21-15 in the latest round.

Minh crushed Kozai 21-15, 21-13 in the second round of the YONEX Chinese Taipei Gold Grand Prix in Taiwan last month. Minh went on to win the tournament championship and moved from tenth to ninth in the world’s men’s singles rankings.

The Vietnamese badminton hero has never been in the semifinals of a Super Series tournament and had previously said he was determined to do so.

Meanwhile, 19th-ranked Simon Santoso of Indonesia upset and eliminated the world’s number one, Malaysian Lee Chong Wei, 2-1 in one hour and eight minutes.

Minh’s ride was made a bit easier early on as world number two Chen Jin of China, scheduled to play in Minh’s bracket, withdrew from the event just minutes before the tournament started.

Minh qualified for the Super Series in England and Switzerland last year, but bowed out after the first round at both events.

However, his ranking moved from 38th to 33rd after the events, initiating his dramatic climb to 15th by the end of the year.

The Yonex Open Japan Super Series in Tokyo ends September 27 with a total cash prize of US$200,000.

Source: Tuoi Tre, SGGP