The story of the son of a rich family overcoming… difficulties of the legend of Vietnamese badminton
Vietnamese sports have no shortage of stars who have overcome difficulties, but the fifth-ranked tennis player in the world Nguyen Tien Minh is a different story. He was born into a well-off family in Ho Chi Minh City.
Exposure to badminton since the age of 10, then Tien Minh immediately won the first prize at the school level. The love turned into a passion, his family agreed to let him ‘turn aside’ at the age of 18, determined to become a professional athlete instead of choosing a university.
Thanks to the background of his family, Tien Minh is confident and proactive in his competition and training plans. The fact that he and his family spend money to practice and compete abroad is not new. That is an advantage in this player’s starting point.
Not being trained properly since he was a child, it was not until the age of 18 that he officially pursued a professional path. In addition, the physique of the player born in 1983 is not an advantage. In return, his surprisingly resilient will helped him to be in the top 10 badminton villages in the world.
But when he reached the peak of his career, his class reached the world level, Tien Minh had to face a reality: No coach in the country was qualified to direct the profession. If there is, it is only a partial support because the level difference is too large. For a long time, Tien Minh had to accept the scene of vegetarianism without a professional lesson plan.
Funding continues to be an ongoing story in overseas competitions. Because the budget is only enough to support Tien Minh’s place, he mainly participates in tournaments alone without a coach, without a supporter, has to try himself on the field and take care of technical problems. engineering and logistics.
It seems that he has alone overcome the narrow conditions of Vietnamese badminton to be ready to confront the “bloody” players of the badminton powers.
Once shared in the media, Tien Minh said that every time he went to play abroad, it was a pity for this player. But being pitiful forever becomes a habit. He did not relent because of the situation of fighting alone. He even considered it a normal thing because he understood the reality of the country’s sports.
Knowing himself, in an exchange with fans, he shared that when he was at the top of the world, his strongest strength was his stubbornness. “I can defend by reacting to the opponent’s smashes. In addition, I persist in hitting the opponent’s ‘out of battery’.”
The ‘ageless’ tennis player
Similar to Hoang Xuan Vinh, Tien Minh is one of the few Vietnamese athletes who have been consistently at the top of the world for many years. In December 2020, the World Badminton Federation announced the rankings, Nguyen Tien Minh for the first time in his career entered the top 5 strongest tennis players in the world.
Continuous time after that from 2010-2014, he remained in the top 10 top tennis players in the world. He finished 5th in the world for the second time in August 2013, after a bronze medal at the world championship.
At the time of the 2016 Olympics, instead of ending his athlete career as originally planned, Tien Minh stepped back a few years. He clearly felt the love of the audience for him.
There is no commensurate successor team, at the age of 38, he still represents Vietnam’s badminton for the 2021 Olympics as the oldest player. While legends like Lee Chong Wei or Lin Dan have retired at the age of 37, Tien Minh is still fighting.
Before the athlete’s efforts and persistence, born in 1983, the World Badminton Federation took the time to praise him: ”Still extremely persistent at the age of 38. Tien Minh still shows no signs of age despite his age. is the oldest athlete in badminton at this year’s Olympics.
He made his debut at the Olympics in 2008, when the reigning world No. 1 Kento Momota was only 13 years old.
A great tenacity!”.
The World Badminton Federation has an article on its homepage about Tien Minh.Screenshots
In the world’s top 100, there is no player of Tien Minh’s age. Vietnamese players like Pham Cao Cuong, Le Duc Phat or Nguyen Hai Dang are all far from the top 100, although they are not too young.
Sharing in the media, this player once said that at this age, meeting any opponent is no longer important. The important thing is how to stay healthy, play to the best of your ability and take advantage of the experience.
Source: CafeF
Source: Vietnam Insider