Top Vietnamese players are seeded in the Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC)'s top-flight competition, Robot Vietnam Satellite, that begins next Wednesday and runs through Sunday on April 23 at Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium in HCM City.

Nguyen Tien Minh.

Vietnam's No1 hope, Nguyen Tien Minh, is seeded No 4 in the men's singles draw and the country's other top players are seeded second and fourth in mixed and men's doubles events.

The tournament, which has been upgraded to an ABC US$10,000 tournament, will draw the competition of the leading players in the world.

The men's singles games will include matches between 76 players including Vietnam's Minh, Hong Kong's Chan Yankit, ranked 36th in the world, and Thailand's Sapkulchananart Poompat, ranked 37th in the world.

Yan-kit is top seeded and Poompat is ranked second in the singles competition. Indonesian Jeffer Rosobin who is 60th in the world will also be among the men in the singles battle.

The presence of Singaporean Ronald Susilo, ranked 114th in the world and also an Athens Olympic Games quarter-finallist, promises to make the competition more interesting.

Minh, who won second place in a Satellite event, is Vietnam's singles hope at the tournament.

Minh, ranked 68th in the world and seeded No 4 at next week's event, is expected to reach the semi-finals, said HCM City Badminton Federation's deputy head, Tran Ngoc Lien.

Minh's chance of reaching at least the semi-final seems likely as defending champion Simon Satoso and runner-up Hoo Min will not compete next week.

The world's leading women competing in the singles matches include Hong Kong's Yip Pui-yin, 19th in the world; Meemek Monthila and Ponsana Salakjit of Thailand, 23rd and 32nd respectively; Malaysian Mudukasan, 30th; and Jang Soo-young of South Korea, 39th.

Pui-yin, who reached the Asian Championship's 16th round early this month, is seed No 1 in the singles event.

In doubles events, Vietnamese Tran Thanh Hai and Le Ngoc Nguyen Nhung are seeded No 2 in the mixed doubles draw while Hai and Nguyen Quang Minh are No 4 seeds in men's doubles.

Thai players are all top seeds in doubles games with Prapakamol Sudket, 34th in the world, and Ngensrisuk Phattapol playing together in men's doubles.

The 24th world ranked Aroonkensorn Duanganong and Voravichitchaikul Kunchala compete in women's doubles. Kunchala pairs up with Anukritiyawan Songphon for the mixed games.

Players from New Zealand and Japan will compete in the Satellite event for the first time.

The host team will have 36 players, including 26 men, competing against 200 opponents from 12 regional countries in five events.

(Source: Viet Nam News)