Recently, tennis player Nguyen Thuy Linh was a guest on HaveASip podcast episode 203. The conversation between her and the host revolved around the topic "Small efforts to conquer big dreams".
Here, the number 1 female badminton player in Vietnam shared about the difficulties she encountered in her journey to pursue a professional career.
Thuy Linh said that in most international tournaments, she mostly competes alone, without a coach or analyst accompanying her.
"There were times when I pushed three large suitcases on an uneven road by myself. Athletes from other countries had to carry them for me. Sometimes I felt sorry for myself, but I knew how to put it aside and balance my time and energy to compete," Thuy Linh shared.
With tireless efforts, the female badminton player from Phu Tho has firmly held the No. 1 position in the list of Vietnamese female badminton athletes for the past 7 years. However, this ranking also puts her under a lot of pressure.
Thuy Linh shared: "The feeling of going from number 2 to number 1 is completely different. When I was number 2, I only looked up at number 1 above me. But when I was number 1, when I looked down, I saw so many numbers. It felt like everyone always wanted to take my number 1. Getting to number 1 seemed easier than keeping that position."
In fact, Thuy Linh is maintaining her good performance and accumulating points. This not only helps her maintain her position as the number 1 female badminton player in Vietnam but also continuously improves her ranking on the BWF rankings.
2024 is considered a busy year for Nguyen Thuy Linh. On average, Thuy Linh participates in at least 1 international tournament each month. Vietnam's No. 1 female tennis player has participated in more than 16 international tournaments, including 3 highest level Super 1,000 tournaments in England (March), Indonesia (June) and China (September); 3 Super 750 level tournaments in India (January), France (March), Singapore (May).
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Thuy Linh did not perform as expected when she stopped in the group stage, missing the chance to enter the round of 16. At the end of the year, she participated in the European tour in Denmark, Germany and then competed in the 2024 Korean Masters.
With the above results, according to the latest BWF rankings updated on December 31, 2024, Thuy Linh ended 2024 ranked 35th in the world with an accumulated score of 40,470. She is only 3,754 points behind the world ranked 30th Hsu Wen-chi.
If he has good results in the tournaments in early 2025, the tennis player born in 1997 will soon return to his original ranking.
However, due to the high frequency of competition, Thuy Linh suffered multiple injuries. She announced that she would rest and recover her strength at the end of November 2024 to be ready to return in 2025.
Thuy Linh shared that her body began to react to the frequency of training and competition. However, with her determination and forged character, she will continue to compete until she feels she can no longer continue.
"Although I really want to, my body will find it difficult to compete for a place in another Olympics. Currently, my body is showing signs of physical overload. This can easily cause injuries to my ankles, knees, back...
After every day of training, my body always feels hot but the thermometer does not show a fever. It is simply that I overworked and my body reacted.
An athlete's life is very short. If you are really good, the moment of glory will only last a few years, not long. Therefore, I will always try my best, take care of my body to be ready for the next tournaments. Surely, Nguyen Thuy Linh will be a tennis player who will never regret her current journey," Thuy Linh expressed.
