[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Nguyen Tien Minh was crowned the Robot-HCMC Asian Satellite badminton champion in men’s singles after romping past a former Asian champ in the finals on Sunday, April 23.[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Ranked fourth in the tournament and 66 in the world, Minh outplayed his Indonesian opponent, Jeffer Rosobin, (world No 44) winning 2 straight games 21-7, 21-12. This is his second Satellite title since his extraordinary feat winning the 2004 Magnum Malaysia Satellite with a shocking win against Malaysian, Lee Tsuen Seng.[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]With the title, the Vietnamese champion received US$1,200 for his share in the tournament prize money as well as another $1,890 from the HCMC Badminton Federation, the event’s main sponsor, Robot Company, and from local pop star Dam Vinh Hung.[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Meanwhile, the other four remaining event titles were shared between Korean and Thai players. Jang Soo Young (Republic of Korea) took the women's singles title after defeating Salakjit Ponsana of Thailand 21-15, 17-21, 21-19. Korean duo Kim Min Jung / Oh Seul Ki outplayed Thai pair of Duanganong Aroonkesorn / Kunchala Voravichitchaikul, 23-21, 12-21, 21-9 to win women’s doubles title.[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Thailand came on strong in the men's and mixed doubles events by winning both titles. Sudket Prapakamol / Phattapol Ngernsrisuk defeated Njoto Albertus Susanto / Wiratama Yohan Hadikusumo (Hong Kong), while Songphon Anukritiyawon / Kunchala Voravichitchaikul won over Malaysian pair of Razif Abdul Latif / Norsyahliza Baharum, respectively.[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The Robot Vietnam badminton championship is one among four sanctioned competitions in the Asian Satellite series. The other three include Cheers Singapore, Thailand Smiling Fish, and Indian oil Asian Satellite.[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The tournament, from April 20-23, attracted 177 players from 12 nations and territories including Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the host Vietnam.[/FONT]
