Nguyen Tien Minh wins Vietnam Open 2026 qualifier: A 43-year-old's experience still makes the difference

Nguyen Tien Minh just left the court with a smile. At 43, the world No. 254 had just won his qualifying round at the Vietnam Open 2026 by defeating Nguyen Hoang Thai Son. The result was not a huge surprise to those who have followed him for years, but it reveals something important about how an older athlete can still compete at a high level.

The 2026 Vietnam Open is a BWF Super 100 tournament, held from September 8 to 13, 2026. Organizers said more than 300 players from 27 countries and territories registered for the event. Even though Super 100 is one of the lower tiers on the BWF World Tour, the tournament remains a key stop for players who need ranking points or want to regain their form.

Nguyen Tien Minh entered the event from the qualifying draw. He faced Nguyen Hoang Thai Son, a younger player trained mainly for doubles. This detail matters. Thai Son has speed, power and physical strength, but he lacks the specific tactical foundation of a singles player. Nguyen Tien Minh read the match quickly. Instead of trading pace with a younger man, he slowed down the rallies, moved the shuttle well and attacked the open spaces that a doubles specialist often leaves when forced to cover the whole court alone.

Minh's victory did not come from superior technique, but from his ability to exploit the clear weakness of a doubles specialist moving to singles. This is an experience-based tactical pattern, not something easily found in textbooks. Thai Son might look strong on the forecourt or when working with a partner, but when forced to move alone across the full court, he did not know how to read drop shots or changes of rhythm.

After the match, Nguyen Tien Minh said: "I knew Thai Son was not strong in singles, but he has power and speed. So I needed to stay patient and not get drawn into his fast style." That statement explains why he still plays at 43. Minh is no longer the player who could accelerate again and again like he did when he was in the world's top ten. But he compensates with observation, rhythm control and the ability to take advantage of errors.

I once introduced the wrong hometown of a young athlete at Gelora Bung Karno stadium, and realized I was also running in the wrong lane. Since then, I learned that numbers only make sense when they come with a story. Minh's ranking of 254 does not say much about how he reads a game. Anyone who relies only on rankings might write him off at a Super 100 event. But badminton is not decided by rankings before the match starts.

Nguyen Hoang Thai Son may regret not using his physical advantages well. But this match showed a clear truth: international singles experience is something speed cannot replace. Forced rallies can make Minh tired, but in crucial moments, the calmness and pace control of a 43-year-old become powerful weapons.

This qualifying win puts Nguyen Tien Minh into the main draw, where he will face Zhe Ying Wu of Taiwan. That opponent has a completely different style from Nguyen Hoang Thai Son. Zhe Ying Wu does not make the same kind of singles mistakes. The next match will be a real test for Minh's adaptability. He cannot just rely on long rallies and wait for the opponent to make mistakes.

Meanwhile, other Vietnamese players are dealing with bigger problems. Le Duc Phat, viewed as the main hope for Vietnamese men's singles, is struggling with knee and heel injuries. Reports from the support team say Phat needed pain-relief injections to play. This raises a big question about his ability to go deep in a knockout tournament. A player with an injury can win one match through willpower, but it is very difficult to keep going when the body is not fully fit.

Nguyen Hai Dang, a young player expected to replace Minh, was eliminated early. That result shows the Vietnamese men's singles group is still in an unfinished transition. Having a 43-year-old in the main draw is good news, but it also reminds us that the younger generation has not yet taken over at important tournaments.

In women's singles, Nguyen Thuy Linh is also drawing attention as she plays Xu Wen Jing, a 19-year-old player. This is the kind of contest Vietnamese badminton needs for the next Olympic cycle. Win or lose, such matches offer far more valuable exposure than training at home.

Mbappe did not change football; he simply revealed that football had changed a long time ago. For Nguyen Tien Minh, this qualifying win does not change the landscape of Vietnamese badminton. It exposes a reality that has existed for years: the singles training system has not found a worthy successor. One man cannot carry the whole sport, but he is showing how an older player can stay relevant through intelligence.

A big sports event does not need loud people; it needs storytellers who keep pace with the heartbeat of the crowd. Nguyen Tien Minh's story at the 2026 Vietnam Open is not just about a qualifying victory. It is about the boundary between age and experience, between youth and maturity. He is no longer the player who makes crowds scream with explosive speed. But he can still make fans hold their breath at crucial moments.

The next match against Zhe Ying Wu will give us a clearer answer. If Minh goes through, it will be a powerful proof of the philosophy that playing smart matters more than playing fast. If he stops, fans can still be proud of seeing a veteran fight with everything he has learned over more than two decades. For me, the value of today's win does not lie in points or rankings. It lies in the way an athlete still finds joy stepping onto the court, even when his age is no longer young.