Vietnamese top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh defeated the world No 3 Chen Long of China 2-0 at the Thomas & Uber Cup Preliminary Asia Zone in Chinese Macau on Feb. 14 afternoon.

In the first singles match of Group A between Vietnam and China men's team, the Olympian and world No 9 Minh played fiercely in the first set and beat Chen 21-15. Minh continued to dominate the second set and beat his Chinese rival 21-12.

It was the only win of Vietnam against defending champion China. In the four remaining matches, Vietnamese players lost to Chinese. Duong Bao Duc/Nguyen Hoang Nam lost to Nan Zhang/Gen Li 12-21, 18-21. Le Ha Anh lost to Chen Jin 3-21. Bui Bang Duc/Dao Manh Thang were defeated by Biao Chai/Zhendong Guo 9-21, 6-21, while Nam also lost to Wang Zhengming 11-21, 12-21.

Minh and 10 other Vietnamese players are taking part in the event, which attracted 14 teams, including China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The event runs until Feb. 19./.