Intense love for badminton
A training day of the Vietnam Badminton Team at Bac Ninh University of Physical Education and Sports lasts no less than 12 hours. From early morning, the players go to the training field. Then, they continue their professional training program in the afternoon and the training day only ends when it is late afternoon.
On a corner of the court, Thu Huyen is one of the members of the Vietnam Badminton Team, practicing full time like her seniors. Thu Huyen is the most noticed because in the Vietnam Badminton Team at the moment, she is the youngest player. This year, Thu Huyen is only 13 years old but has been focused, practicing and implementing the professional training program no less lenient, equivalent to other older players.
“We brought Thu Huyen into the national team to have the best professional training. She is one of the most promising and expert players of the team. The coaches in the coaching staff will directly train her to ensure the best professional development for Thu Huyen and many other promising faces,” said a representative of the badminton department (Department of Physical Education and Sports).
Thu Huyen has become more known to the media after this player competed and won the Silver Medal in the U15 women's singles at the 2024 Asian Youth Badminton Championship. In the history of Vietnamese youth badminton, no player has ever achieved such a result. Therefore, many people consider this player a surprise factor.
However, professionals soon learned about Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen because the young girl grew up in a family that loved badminton. Thu Huyen herself has a burning love for this sport that uses a racket, a shuttlecock and a net. Mr. Nguyen Trong Manh and Mrs. Dinh Thi Tuoi (parents of Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen) are truly passionate about badminton. Initially, they played badminton to train their health and physical fitness. Gradually, the attractive competitive sport permeated them and this became the family's common hobby. It was Mr. Manh and Mrs. Tuoi's love for badminton and directly holding a racket to compete on the court in the countryside of Binh Giang (Hai Duong) that brought Thu Huyen along. Gradually, the little girl felt the love for sports and badminton created by her parents, never left the racket and considered sports as her career.
According to the coaches of the Vietnam Badminton Team, through a number of youth tournaments, Thu Huyen demonstrated her professional superiority, so in 2021, when this player was 10 years old, the coaching staff of the Vietnam Youth Badminton Team focused on this player. Of course, there was no favoritism in the decision to focus. Because Thu Huyen or any player who is focused on the Vietnam Youth Badminton Team has real ability. "I really like badminton, but now I'm young, I still have a lot to learn, so I learn a lot from the teachers and seniors," Thu Huyen shared with much shyness when asked about the professional training process at Bac Ninh University of Physical Education and Sports.
SEA Games will be an important opportunity
The General Secretary of the Vietnam Badminton Federation - Mr. Le Thanh Ha and the head of the badminton department (Department of Physical Education and Sports) - Mr. Khoa Trung Kien shared the same analytical point of view that badminton, like other sports, is a very important natural factor. Here, the manager did not force Thu Huyen, giving the player enough time to develop naturally according to her professional instincts.
However, in the beginning, Thu Huyen was able to build good basic techniques, along with discipline in sports. “We have such a good tennis player, which is very valuable in terms of expertise. Therefore, the sports industry and the management unit have long-term goals for this tennis player. Thu Huyen still has a lot of time to develop,” said Mr. Khoa Trung Kien.
Huyen always brings her badminton racket wherever she goes. In all of this player's sharing, the story about expertise is often talked about. Huyen once said that watching famous Vietnamese players compete always brings her excitement to learn more from her seniors. Thu Huyen herself realizes that perfection takes time and she will strive every day. Thu Huyen's goal is to wait for the opportunity to one day be included in the Vietnamese badminton team to compete in the SEA Games. "I idolize Ms. Nguyen Thuy Linh. She plays badminton well. I will also strive to achieve good results like that," Thu Huyen said.
Vietnamese women's badminton has had many famous players such as: Le Ngoc Nguyen Nhung, Nguyen Binh Tho, Vu Thi Trang, Nguyen Thuy Linh... Now, Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen is considered the future player of Vietnamese badminton. If she achieves professional stability, the opportunity to participate in the SEA Games in the future will hardly fall out of Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen's hands. However, for now, Thu Huyen affirms that she is focusing on training and competing to ensure her form, achieving professional results domestically to match the expectations of her family and the teachers who are coaching her.
Special investment
The turning point in Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen's career was joining Dong Nai. At the age of 13, a badminton player changing their management team early is considered quite rare in the Vietnamese badminton community. However, Hai Duong sports managers and Thu Huyen's family understand that the change is to give the player the best conditions to develop professionally.
Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dong Nai province - Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Loan once affirmed in her speech at the Vietnam Badminton Federation that Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen is one of the sports talents, the management unit focuses on investing to work with the sports industry to develop her expertise.
In 2024, Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen will have two important milestones, which are participating in the 2024 Asian Youth Championship (winning the Silver Medal in the U15 women's singles) and the 2024 World Youth Championship (competing in the team event, competing in the U19 women's singles). The best way to ensure the comprehensive development of a talent is not only to send them to compete internationally, but also for Vietnamese badminton to build a specific plan in training, accumulate expertise in practice, and allow athletes to participate in appropriate competitions.
Step by step training and competition in accordance with the roadmap will help young athletes accumulate well and avoid the rush that can lead them to a state of "blindness". No one wants a tennis player with potential but cannot succeed when they grow up. The harmony from training to competition, balancing life outside the ring is being carefully built by the coaching staff for Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen at this time.
The young girl from Hai Duong is highly appreciated for her diligence. Combined with her strong love for badminton, the tennis player will certainly have a bright future with Vietnamese sports. When this article was published, Thu Huyen was competing in individual events at the 2024 World Junior Badminton Championship. "We always determine that athletes compete to accumulate and they are allowed to compete in a sufficient volume to gradually accumulate and develop according to the roadmap to gradually improve their level," shared a representative of the coaching staff of the Vietnamese Youth Badminton Team participating in the 2024 World Junior Badminton Championship.
