Vietnam failed to grab a place in the final of the men's team Thomas Cup badminton tournament, after losing 3-0 to Hong Kong in a play-off match Feb. 26.

Playing without key member Nguyen Tien Minh who was missing through illness, the Vietnamese team failed to record a single win against a stronger Hong Kong side.

Nguyen Hoang Nam lost 15-21, 8-21 to Chan Yan Kit; Duong Bao Duc was beaten 13-21, 19-21 by Wong Wing Ki while Huynh Vinh went down 9-21, 15-21 to Chan Yun Lung in only 18 minutes.

It was the third loss for Vietnam in the Cup's preliminary round for the Asian Zone which will provide three teams to compete at the finals, running in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia from May 9-16.

Following the tournament, world No 8 Minh will be the only Vietnamese athlete to compete at the Yonex All England Open Championship which will see a strong line-up for its 100th anniversary.

The oldest championship in world badminton runs from March 9-14 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham .

After the withdraw of the world No 7 Boonsak Ponsana from Thailand minutes before the draw, Minh who missed last year's event has been given seventh seed and hopes to play world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the final./.