Nguyễn Tiến Minh (born February 12, 1983) is a Vietnamese
badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
player. His best achievement to date was the bronze medal at the
World Championship in 2013.
Career
Introduced to badminton by his father at the early age of 10, Nguyen Tien Minh was immediately captivated by the sport. The interest soon developed into a passion which led to Tien Minh's crucial decision in 2001 when the athlete was 18 years old: to take on the path of becoming a professional badminton player instead of carrying on his education as his family wished. The young man's determination soon demonstrated its fruitful aspects when he was recruited into the national team in the same year. However, Tien Minh's career did not become well known nationwide until 2002 when he, at the age of 19, defeated the long time national champion, Nguyễn Phú Cường, and won the gold medal for the men's singles category.
Nevertheless, despite Tien Minh's quick progress, the badminton player was receiving a salary of less than 150 US dollars a month, as most Vietnamese athletes were at the time. After years of contributing to the nation's sport team, while his ranking has been progressing significantly and rapidly, Tien Minh's income has only been increased by around 50 dollars. Vietnamese athletes, with incomes much higher than that of Tien Minh's, normally have specially assigned specialists to look after their every aspect, such as diet, injuries, and endurance training, not to mention all the top ranking sporting facilities provided for by the government. On the other side of the scale, he has been trained in an environment with nothing but poor equipment and has to rely mostly on his family's financial support, the effort of his few coaches, and the contributions of his teammates.
Tien Minh is portrayed by a common description in his home country, "the athlete with a herculean progress".
World Championship 2013
Nguyen Tien Minh came into the world championship seeded #7. His previous best achievement at a world championship was to get to the quarter-final round at the
2011 championship in London, where he lost to
of Denmark in three sets.
The first match was an easy affair (21–8, 21–11) against the New Zealand player
Joe Wu
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
, who ranked 110.
The second match against the German
Dieter Domke
Dieter Domke (born 9 February 1987) is a German badminton player.
Achievements
European Games
''Men's singles''
European Junior Championships
''Boys' singles''
BWF Grand Prix
The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Gr ...
turned out to be quite tight. He started well, but then faded, and almost lost the first set. He was able to close out the set 24–22 though. He then won the second set 21–17.
In the next round, Tien Minh played the Spaniard
Pablo Abián
Pablo Abián Vicén (; born 12 June 1985) is a Spanish badminton player. He was the men's singles gold medalists at the 2015 European Games, 2018 and 2022 Mediterranean Games.
Olympic Games
2008 (Beijing, China)
He competed in badminton ...
. Tien Minh lost the first set 15–21, but came back strongly and easily won the next two sets 21–9, 21–10.
The quarterfinal match between Nguyen Tien Minh and
Jan Ø. Jørgensen, rank #9, was a three-setter. Both players knew a lot was at stake here: the winner not only got to the semi-final, but would also be guaranteed a medal (the two losers in the semi-final both win bronze medals). That would be the first medal for both players at a world championship. Tien Minh won in three set match (21–8, 17–21, 22–20). He became the first Vietnamese to win a medal at the world championship.
In the semi-final against
Lin Dan
Lin Dan (born 14 October 1983) is a Chinese former professional badminton player. He is a two-time Olympic champion, five-time World champion, as well as a six-time All England champion. Widely regarded as the greatest badminton player of a ...
, Tien Minh lost 17–21 15–21. Despite the semi-final loss, the bronze medal was still a huge success for him.
Immediately after the championship, Tien Minh was nominated by the governmental sports authority of Vietnam (the TCTDTT - Bureau of Sports and Physical Activities) for an Order of Labor, 2nd class. He had been awarded the Order of Labor, 3rd class in 2011, also for his achievements and excellency in the field of sports.
Personal life
Nguyen Tien Minh opened a sports apparel and equipment store named Tien Minh Shop in Ho Chi Minh City in early 2016.
In December 2016, Tien Minh married his long-time girlfriend
Vũ Thị Trang
Vũ Thị Trang (born 19 May 1992) is a badminton player from Vietnam. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was a bronze medallist at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
In 2016, Vũ married fellow Vie ...
. Vũ is also a badminton player and has been competing alongside Tien Minh throughout many international tournaments.
39 as of 2022, Nguyen Tien Minh's 13th time attending the BWF World Championships is a current world record.
Achievements
BWF World Championships
''Men's singles''
Asian Championships
''Men's singles''
Southeast Asian Games
''Men's singles''
BWF Grand Prix (10 titles, 3 runnerups)
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the
Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the
Badminton World Federation
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...
(BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.
''Men's singles''
:
BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
:
BWF Grand Prix tournament
BWF International Challenge/Series (13 titles, 4 runnerups)
''Men's singles''
:
BWF International Challenge
The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.
...
tournament
:
BWF International Series
The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...
tournament
:
BWF Future Series
The BWF Future Series is a grade 3 and level 3 tournaments part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and International Series (level 2), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...
tournament
Record against top-5 players
Nguyễn Tiến Minh's record against players who have been ranked world no. 5 or higher is as follows:
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Tien Minh
1983 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnamese male badminton players
Badminton players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Badminton players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Badminton players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic badminton players of Vietnam
Badminton players at the 2006 Asian Games
Badminton players at the 2010 Asian Games
Badminton players at the 2014 Asian Games
Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games
Asian Games competitors for Vietnam
Competitors at the 2003 Southeast Asian Games
Competitors at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games
Competitors at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games
Competitors at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games
Competitors at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games
Competitors at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games
Competitors at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games
Competitors at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games
Southeast Asian Games bronze medalists for Vietnam
Southeast Asian Games medalists in badminton
Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics