Ousted Tien Minh surprised by rival’s power
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Báo Tuổi Trẻ English
- 10 month(s) ago
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The Indian opponent appeared to be more powerful than ever, Vietnamese badminton star Nguyen Tien Minh said in an interview with national television VTV after a 2-0 defeat Tuesday that sent him home from the London Olympics empty-handed.
Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam reacts after losing 0-2 to Kashyap Parupalli of India during their London Olympics on July 31, 2012 Photo: Nga Nguyen
Minh played Kashyap Parupalli in the Group D group play match, which decided who would advance to the best 16 round of the men’s single event, where he quickly lost 9-21 and 14-21 after only 40 minutes.
The two have fought each other for six times, but this is the most shocking encounter ever, Minh told a VTV reporter who interviewed him at the venue.
“I was stunned by his performance. He has never been this powerful out of the six times we have met,” Minh sweated.
“His form is stable, while his attacking and defense techniques are perfect.”
The 29-year-old admitted that his rival was absolutely stronger than him, as he is three years younger.
The failure of Minh, who was Vietnam’s best hope at the Olympics, has triggered a wave of discussion on online forums and social networks.
While most local badminton fans at first criticized the ousted star, they later pointed the finger at a badminton chief official.
Don’t blame Minh
The general secretary of the Vietnam Badminton Federation has asserted in a statement that Minh deserved the failure for his weak psychological state, and pressed that he did foresee the loss.
This statement has angered local fans, as it is the management officials’ fault for not having found a solution to help Minh ease his pressure, but while actually burdening him more instead.
In Beijing 2008 Minh was beaten 1-2 by Hsieh Yu Hsing of Taiwan, who stood 25 places lower than him in the world rankings, and had previously been defeated by Minh.
Minh had to stop his medal journey at Beijing early, and four years later in London, things did not change.
So who is to be blamed? Minh needs to improve his psychological stability, a hard task which he cannot fulfill alone. He badly needs support from the federation and the local sporting authorities.
Unfortunately, the responsible officials have done the opposite of this.
Instead of easing Minh’s pressure, they assigned a coach that he does not get along with to accompany him to London.
An introvert, Minh chose to withstand all of the conflicts himself, which obviously exacerbated his burden, and ended up sending him to a loss at a very important match.
It’s not his fault.