Identifying Nguyen Thuy Linh's fateful opponent in the million-dollar badminton tournament

The 2025 Indonesia Open Badminton Tournament will take place from June 3 to 8 at Istora Gelora Bung Karno (Jakarta). The tournament is part of the World Tour Super 1,000 system of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), with a total prize money of up to 1.45 million USD, attracting most of the world's top players to compete. Among them, Vietnam's No. 1 player Nguyen Thuy Linh (ranked 24th in the world) is qualified to participate in the women's singles event.

Xác định đối thủ nhiều duyên nợ với Nguyễn Thùy Linh ở giải cầu lông triệu USD - Ảnh 1. — Nguyen Thuy Linh faces Japanese tennis player Natsuki Nidaira (world No. 20) in the first round of the women's singles at the 2025 Indonesia Open badminton tournament.

What opportunities for Nguyen Thuy Linh?

According to the draw results, Nguyen Thuy Linh is in the same bracket as the second seed, also the world's second-ranked player Wang Zhi Yi (China). In the first round, the Dong Nai player will face Japanese player Natsuki Nidaira (ranked 20th in the world). Natsuki Nidaira, born in 1998, is a member of the Japanese women's badminton team that won the bronze medal at the Hangzhou ASIAD (2022). Her notable personal achievement is winning the women's singles at the 2024 US Open badminton tournament under the World Tour Super 300 system.

Nguyen Thuy Linh and Natsuki Nidaira have faced each other twice. The most recent time at the Malaysia Open in January, Nguyen Thuy Linh defeated her opponent with a score of 2-0 (21/16, 21/19). The other encounter took place exactly 10 years ago, at the 2015 Asian Youth Tournament, when Nguyen Thuy Linh lost to Natsuki Nidaira with a score of 0-2 (19/21, 17/21). With their professional abilities considered "equally matched", Nguyen Thuy Linh and Natsuki Nidaira created a tense and fiercely competitive match in the two encounters. In this rematch, the coaches believe that the player with better form will have a better chance of winning.

Nguyen Thuy Linh has just contributed to helping the Dong Nai team win the gold medal at the 2025 National Team Badminton Championship. This tournament is considered a "warm-up" for Nguyen Thuy Linh before entering the prestigious Indonesia Open badminton tournament. Previously in May, the Vietnamese badminton beauty participated in the Malaysia Masters and excellently won the right to enter the quarter-finals.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xac-dinh-doi-thu-duyen-no-voi-nguyen-thuy-linh-o-giai-cau-long-trieu-usd-185250602103043435.htm