Vietnam’s top female badminton player Vu Thi Trang, was seeded third at the International Badminton Championship – Ciputra Hanoi 2015, which kicked off on March 17.

Trang, world No 47, is the only Vietnamese player in the women’s main draw. She will face Indonesia ’s Fitriani Fitriani, who ranks 227th in the world, in the first qualifying round on March 18.

Other notable matches in the first round include top-seeded Chen Jiayuan, of Singapore playing Mine Ayumi of Japan and second seed Iris Wang of the US meeting Mariska Gregoria of Indonesia .

In the men’s singles event, in the absence of the country’s top player Nguyen Tien Minh, Pham Cao Cuong is the only Vietnamese male player in the main draw. Cuong will take on one of qualifying players.

Top seed Avihingsanon Suppanyu of Thailand will take on Hong Woon Kok of Malaysia , while second-seeded Fikri Ihsandi Hadmadi faces Thongnuam Pannawit of Thailand .

In the men’s doubles, Duong Bao Duc and Nguyen Hoang Nam have little hope of progressing to the second round as they face top-seeded pair Wei Liang Jui and Pin Lu Chia.

In the women’s doubles, besides sixth-seeded duo Trang and Nguyen Thi Sen, there are five other Vietnamese pairs in the main draw.

Vietnam also have duos competing in the main draw of the mixed doubles event.

The matches in the main draw will start on March 18.

The annual competition attracts 296 players from 17 countries and territories.

The champion in each singles event will receive 1,125 USD while the amount for the doubles events is 1,185 USD.

The championship will conclude on March 22.-VNA