The Yonex Italian trophy was the second international title that Linh has won so far this year.

World no. 80 Linh brilliantly beat Michelle Skødstrup (Denmark) 21-15, 21-12 in the round of 32 and Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (India) 21-15, 18-21, 21-11 in the round of 16 in order to set up a quarterfinal clash with Beatriz Corrales, world no. 34 and no. 2 seed at the tournament.

Despite facing such a tough challenge, the Vietnamese girl showed exceptional form as she stunned the Spanish player in two straight sets, with respective scores of 21-16, 21-12.

The impressive victory forcefully boosted Linh’s confidence in the remaining stage of her Italian campaign. She easily handled world no. 400 Anna Thea Madsen from Denmark 21-17, 8-21, 21-12 in the semifinals to secure a place in the final match against another Danish competitor, world no. 299 Line Christophersen.

Regardless of her lower world ranking, Christophersen posed a variety of threats to Linh, and only succumbed to the first-set defeat at a close score of 22-24.

In the second set, the youthful power of the 17-year-old Danish girl helped her to win 21-16 against Linh, thus forcing the match into a decisive set.

The third set took place in an extremely tense fashion. The Vietnamese player bravely fought back from being 7-13 behind to claim the overall triumph with an aggregate score of 23-21.

The Yonex Italian trophy was the second international title that Linh has won so far this year. Earlier, she was crowned the champion at the Laos international tournament after conquering an array of challenges from Thai opponents.

Do Duc Tuan and Pham Nhu Thao represented Vietnam in the mixed doubles event, but they failed to make the quarterfinals after suffering a 0-2 loss to the UK pair, Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith.

The Yonex Italian International 2017, which forms part of the Badminton World Federation (BWF)’s International Challenge system, took place from December 14 to 17, offering US$20,000 in total prize money.

Source: NDO