World's best badminton players to participate in Vietnam International Challenge

Hanoi will be the next destination for the world's best badminton players, who will vie for prizes at this year's Ciputra Hanoi – Yonex Sunrise Vietnam International Challenge.

The annual event will be held on March 24-29 at the capital city's Xuan Dinh Gymnasium.

Nearly 330 athletes from 21 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand, the Philippines, Malaysia, the US and Vietnam have registered to take part in the event.

They will compete in five categories of men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles. A purse of 20,000 USD will be delivered to high-ranking players, with the champions taking 1,600 USD.

At a press conference on March 18, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Pham Xuan Tai emphasised the importance of the tournament in the development of national sports.

After 14 successful editions, the scale and professional quality of the tournament has continuously improved, attracting attention from both the World Badminton Federation and the Asian Badminton Federation, he noted.

Tai said the event is a valuable opportunity for promising Vietnamese badminton players to compete and demonstrate their skills against world-class opponents.

He added that players from badminton powerhouses Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Indonesia and Chinese Taipei – along with those from Europe and North America – would hold competitive matches to entertain Vietnamese supporters.

Vietnam will have 14 players competing in all classes.

Fans will see the comeback of Vietnam's legendary Nguyen Tien Minh, Paris Olympics participant Le Duc Phat and Vietnam's current highest-ranked international athlete, Nguyen Hai Dang, playing in the men's singles.

They will face top seed Mithun Manjunath, Number 3 Priyanshu Rajawat of India and fourth-seeded Yoo Tae Bin of the RoK on the way to the podium.

Duo Nguyen Dinh Hoang and Tran Dinh Manh will defend their title in the men's doubles. Last year, they defeated Japanese rivals 2-1 to take the gold for Vietnam, which was the first-ever title for the country in an International Challenge event.

On the women's side are veteran Vu Thi Trang and duo Pham Thi Khanh and Pham Thi Dieu Ly, who are aiming for the world's top 100 and plan to shoulder the task of earning medals for the hosts.

Their main challenges will be top seed Tung Ciou-Tong of Chinese Taipei as well as Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj (No 2), Tanya Hemanth (No 3) and Tasnim Mir (No 4) of India.

Aside from matches, players will be given the opportunity to tour to Hanoi's heritage sites and landmarks that will help the hosts to popularise the image of the capital city and Vietnam to international friends.

The early round matches will be free for supporters, who will have to pay for tickets starting in the quarter-final rounds.

Organisers are hoping to avoid the overcrowding of seats seen in previous seasons, while also ensuring the absolute security and safety of athletes in accordance with the stringent standards of an international tournament.

For those who can't watch the games in person, matches will be aired live on the VTVcab channel and the Vietnam Badminton Federation's fanpage./.