He plays a fast game and his work-rate is very high. But when he last played with LCW, I think he was shown lacking. Still not good enough for the better SS tournaments I am afraid.
I would like to see how he plays against a intelligent player like Peter Gade.....I am looking forward to it.
I'm sure NTM must be secretly looking forward to it since he can learn quite a bit from PG to add on to his existing experience with top class players!
Actually NTM has played against PG on several occasions. Once was at the 2005 World Championships held in Anaheim, CA. I was lucky enough to witness it. I don't remember the other ones, but am sure that they played against each other more then once. In both occasions, PG win in 2 sets comfortably. Even NTM has the strength, speed and determination, it was just clearly that he was no match for PG. PG shots were sharper, and with his deception he just out class NTM. It'll be interesting to see how NTM fair against PG now. Since NTM game has matured and PG is aged. Should be interesting.
Badminton player breaks into Top Ten sports income SGGP Oct 05,2009 Vietnam’s number one badminton player, Nguyen Tien Minh, recently joined the Top Ten pay packets for Vietnamese athletes, with an annual income of approximately VND1.2 billion (US$66,600) Nguyen Tien Minh is the sole badminton player appearing in Vietnam’s Top Ten earning athletes. His income is from three sources. The first one is his new sponsorship deal with Becamex IDC, worth VND600 million ($33,300) per year. Explaining the increase of sponsorship from VND240 million ($13,330) to VND600 million, the deputy chairman of the Becamex’s management board, Bui Van Duc, said it was due to Minh’s success for being one of the world’s Top Ten badminton players. Mr Duc also announced a renewal of the contract between Minh and Becamex. Upon the new contract, Minh will receive VND50 million ($2,770) per month if he keeps his place in world’s Top Ten, otherwise, he will only receive VND20 million ($1,110). Currently, Minh is in eighth position on the world badminton federation’s rankings for men singles. Another source of his income is from the Victor Sports Enterprise Co. In an agreement mid-2009, the Victor will sponsor Minh $24,000 per year for all his training and preparation for competitions. The agreement will continue till 2013. The last source is from the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. In related news, Minh will be defending his title at the Vietnam Open Grand Prix 2009 on October 6. The tournament will open from October 6 to 11. By Gia Man – Translated by Truong Son
I wish he earns more than that, get more advertising with him and more sponsors. I mean come on, he's the only pride of Viet Nam's badminton and the brightest star there is too. Long Live NTM!
Does he have to pay his own travel expenses, like air, hotels, and food? If yes, you can hardly get by with $66.6k per year.
^^If he's on his own (not in the National team)..^^ ..then most likely all costs/expenses are incurred by him.
Hot Breaking News!!!! My translation: Nguyen Tien Minh has beaten his Malaysian opponent in the Single Men's Final in Phan Dinh Phung stadium yesterday afternoon in Ho Chi Minh city. The number 1 Vietnamese badminton athlete has succesfully defended his title in the Vietnam Open Grand Prix Championship. Nearly 2000 audience were presented in the match. Tien Minh (Number 7 World Ranking) has beaten his Malaysian opponent Chong Wei Fei (No 58) to defend his title. He said: "I didn't understand why I went in the game with a heavy mindset, so I didn't start well. After the first set win, I wanted to finish the game quickly, so I rushed it in the 2nd set. However, with the massive support of the audience had helped me regain my confidence in the last and final set". He said about the game. "I'm very happy with this title. Thank you very much everyone who had helped me achieved this success. I will continue to work harder in the future." He shared. Not just succesfully defended the title of this competition, this is also his 3rd Grand Prix title in this year. Previously, he had also won the Thailand and Taiwan Open Grand Prix in July and August. Entering the match on Sunday afternoon, although outranked his opponent by 51 ranks, but Tien Minh had a bumpy start. Chong Wei Fei lead the first match in the beginning but Tien Minh regroupped quickly and had put more pressure on Chong Wei Fei, to quickly finish the first set with a big lead 21-7. But in the 2nd set, the Malaysian played more aggressively, and put Tien Minh in his back foot with many difficult defenses. Tien Minh had rushed his play too much which resulted in failing to cros the net. They finished the second set with 21-19 to Chong Wei Fei, game 1-1. But in the third set, Tien Minh finished it off nicely with 21-14, finalised his title achievement with game 2-1. He accepted his prize of 3,700 USD, and his reward in World Ranking points to climb his ladder to number 7 in the World. (WOO HOO). My translation from www.vnexpress.net. Enjoy everyone, my tears jumped out when I read this news . Soooo Happy woo hoo. Long Live Tien Minh!!!! And if anyone has the link to the match, please post it here also. Cheers Minh
They actually played a match at French Open 2008 http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/match.aspx?id=A6F9CFAE-7534-4B54-9FF7-F9A59738843C&match=12
Thanks, but what i mean was the newly 'improved' NTM in 2009. That match was in 2008, NTM showed great improvement in 2009.....so i intended to see how PG plays NTM in 2009........
Tien Minh wins Vietnam Open 2009 SGGP Monday ,Oct 12,2009, Posted at: 11:38(GMT+7) http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Sport/2009/10/75056/ Home favorite and world No.7 Nguyen Tien Minh secured the title in the Grand Prix Vietnam Open 2009 on Sunday after beating Malaysian ace Chong Wei Feng in the men’s final. First-seeded Minh beat Wei Feng, the fourth seed, 21-7 in the first set. However, the Malaysian changed his tactics in the second and took the lead. Minh tried to follow but the gap was too big and Wei Feng finished at 21-19. Minh took the lead at 8-3 in the final set while Wei Feng was losing his fitness. The Vietnamese ended up at 21-14 and pocketed US$3,750. He also accumulated more points from the World Badminton Federation. Tien Minh has steadily improved his ranking following his recent good run and is currently ranked World No 7. One month earlier, it was ninth. The US$50,000 prize cash event saw Indonesia’s Fransisca Ratnasari beat Tai Tzu Ying from Taiwan 21-19, 15-21, 21-13 in the final of the women’s singles. In the men’s doubles, Indonesia’s Luluk Hadiyanto-Joko Riyadi won the title after defeating Thien How and Ong Soon Hock of Malaysia The winners in the women’s doubles were Anneke Feinya Agustine-Annisa Wahyuni of Indonesia, who beat Indonesiansm (I think names are Thai) Savitree Amitrapai-Vacharaporn Munkit 21-14, 21-13. In the mixed doubles, Flandy Limpele of Indonesia and Cheng Wen Hsing from Taiwan defeated Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia 25-23, 21-19 in the final. A total of 202 players took part in the Grand Prix Vietnam Open from Oct. 6 to 11 at Phan Dinh Phung Stadium. The competitors come from 14 countries and territories: Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Vietnam and the Wales. By Quang Truc, translated by Minh Tuong 1. Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh seen during the Vietnam Open final against Malaysia’s Chong Wei Feng on Oct. 11 (Photo: SGGP) 2. Nguyen Tien Minh (R) shares happiness with fans at Phan Dinh Phung Stadium after becoming the men’s singles champion (Photo: SGGP) PS: Congrats to INA for winning 3 titles,
