Difficult goals
Badminton has become a popular sport since its appearance in Vietnam, attracting the attention of many people. In fact, in terms of high-performance expertise, the Vietnam Badminton Team has never won a Silver Medal and a Bronze Medal at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games). We have had 2 most outstanding tennis players before, Nguyen Tien Minh and Vu Thi Trang. However, the highest result they have achieved is the individual Bronze Medal at several SEA Games.
Representatives of the badminton event (Vietnam Department of Physical Education and Sports) and the Vietnam Badminton Federation once said that the goal of participating in the 33rd SEA Games is to win medals. Reporting on the professional work and orientation of the Vietnam Badminton Federation at the 7th Congress of Delegates (2024-2029), Chairman Le Dang Xu affirmed: Vietnamese badminton continues to build a high-performance development investment target to have athletes qualify for the 2028 Olympics. At the same time, we are moving towards the ASIAD arena. In addition, Vietnamese badminton must do well from the base, thereby striving to win medals when competing in the SEA Games because all the strong players in the world in badminton are in Southeast Asia".
At the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia (May 2023), Vietnamese badminton did not win any medals. The Vietnam Sports delegation assessed the above results after the competition and determined it a failure. Now, the Vietnam Badminton Team has focused on training in 2025. The topic has been proposed to find a way to invest, train, and compete to achieve direct value in the immediate future to win the SEA Games 33-2025 medal. Now, the coaching staff of the badminton team is looking for a solution.
Who are the forces?
The Vietnamese badminton team in 2025 has gathered 17 players. All athletes are trained at Bac Ninh University of Physical Education and Sports. This year, with the goal of winning the 33rd SEA Games medal, the team's coaching staff has head coach Ngo Trung Dung, coach Bui Bang Duc and expert Hariawan with professional responsibility.
In the Vietnam badminton team, the two most experienced players will continue to participate, including Nguyen Thuy Linh and Le Duc Phat. In addition to them, many young athletes who are members of the Vietnam Badminton Team such as Nguyen Hai Dang, Nguyen Van Mai, Tran Thi Anh, Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, Tran Quoc Khanh... are considered to have potential. However, we still lack players beyond the professional level to compete overwhelmingly against opponents in Southeast Asia and Asia.
In her professional journey, Nguyen Thuy Linh has participated in 3 SEA Games but she has never won a medal in the women's singles event. Tennis player Le Duc Phat participated in the 31st and 32nd SEA Games but soon stopped in the men's singles event.
"We have to choose the right content to determine our chances against our opponents at the SEA Games. Tactics in competition are very important, Mr. Khoa Trung Kien, head of the badminton department (Vietnam Department of Physical Education and Sports) analyzed. The most recent result of the Vietnam Badminton Team was winning 3 Bronze Medals at the 31st SEA Games (May 2022) held in Vietnam.
We won the Bronze Medal in the women's team event, men's doubles (Do Tuan Duc/Pham Hong Nam), men's singles (Nguyen Tien Minh). Setting an opportunity to compete for results in the doubles and team event is a problem that has been being calculated by the coaching staff of the Vietnam Badminton Team. At the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand, badminton has 7 sets of medals (men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, mixed doubles, men's team, women's team).
With the current women's team (including Nguyen Thuy Linh, Than Van Anh, Tran Thi Phuong Thuy, Bui Bich Phuong...), through research, the coaching staff has prepared the most optimal professional focus for the team event so that we can achieve positive results, realizing the SEA Games medal after many delays.
