Minh enters Australian Open quarters
Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam, seeded two, struggled to beat Guo Kai 21-29, 22-20 in the third round of the Yonex Australian Badminton Open in Sydney on April 4.
Minh, world No 9, found it hard to content against the non-seeded player, who came from China, one of the world’s badminton centres.
The Vietnamese player was behind throughout the first set but came up to win in the last four points. The second set seemed more equal, with both taking turns in the lead.
Minh took advantage of his international experience to secure the last two points against his rival, ranked 284th in the world.
In the quarter-final round on April 5, Minh faces Chinese qualifier Xue Song, who made a big splash by defeating Indonesian legend Taufik Hydayat, seeded six, 21-9, 21-13.