Vietnam’s sole hope for glory at the 2011 Badminton Championships that kick off today in Chengdu, China, is Nguyen Tien Minh.

With the absence of the world number one Malaysian Chong Wei Lee (busy preparing for the 2012 Olympics), 2nd-ranked Dan Lin of China is the top seed while 7th-ranked Minh is the fourth seed.

Minh, the only Vietnamese to enter the world top 100, may have an easier time of it in the first two rounds playing against unseeded players, but he will clash with Taiwan’s Hsuan Yi Hsueh, the 51st-ranked player who beat him at the 2008 Olympics in China.

If Minh beats Hsueh, he will run into growing star Chinese Pengyu Du who is the sixth seed at this year’s event. The tournament will end on Sunday, April 24.