On the opening day of the Vietnamese badminton team at the 33rd SEA Games, Nguyen Thuy Linh had a match with Malaysian opponent Karupathevan Letshanaa (ranked 42) with a 20-rank difference, in the first match of the 5-match team event.
Despite winning both previous encounters, Nguyen Thuy Linh had a slow start in this rematch. Vietnam's number one tennis player was constantly behind in points and had to fight hard to catch up at 2-2 and then 7-7. Only when she found her rhythm did Thuy Linh break away with a series of 2 points, taking the lead for the first time in the women's singles match.
However, that excitement did not last long. From the 15-point threshold, Thuy Linh suddenly lost her rhythm, made many mistakes and let her opponent continuously exploit them, regretfully losing the first set 15-21.
In set 2, the Vietnamese player transformed strongly. She accelerated from the start, scoring 5 consecutive points to lead 9-5 and then maintained her dominance at 16-8. Despite her opponent causing some trouble at the end of the set, Thuy Linh still confidently closed the match with an overwhelming victory of 21-10, equalizing the score 1-1 and bringing the match back to the starting line.
Entering the deciding set, Thuy Linh took an early lead over her opponent in the first shots. In the middle of the set, Thuy Linh unexpectedly let her opponent create a gap of 7-12. This forced her to stop and consult with the Indonesian expert, then shortened the score to 12-14, 14-16. As the set progressed, Thuy Linh played better and better, making difficult saves and scoring points to shorten the score to 16-17, then to 18-18.
At the moment of equalizing the score, Thuy Linh continuously made mistakes but managed to save two match points, then led 22-21 to reach the first match point, then successfully reversed the score to win 2-1 (15-21, 21-10 and 23-21).
This victory of Thuy Linh opens up the opportunity for the Vietnamese team to win a ticket to the quarterfinals of the women's doubles event. In the women's team qualifying round, the Vietnamese team will compete in 5 events (2 doubles and 3 singles) with the Malaysian team. The next match will be the confrontation between the former number 1 female tennis player of Vietnam - Vu Thi Trang and Ling Ching Wong, the second highest ranked player of the Malaysian team.
The Vietnamese women's badminton team has 6 members: Nguyen Thuy Linh, Bui Bich Phuong, Pham Thi Dieu Ly, Pham Thi Khanh, Tran Thi Phuong Thuy and Vu Thi Trang. Meanwhile, the opponent of the Vietnamese women's badminton team, Malaysia, has 10 athletes competing.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/thuy-linh-thang-day-cam-xuc-o-tran-ra-quan-dong-doi-nu-sea-games-33-196251207104511971.htm
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