Vietnam's badminton team 'blanked' before the quarter-finals of Ciputra Hanoi 2026

The greatest hopes of the host nation at the Ciputra Hanoi - YONEX Sunrise Vietnam International Challenge 2026 have all been halted.

International badminton tournament Ciputra Hanoi - YONEX Sunrise Vietnam International Challenge 2026 taking place at the Xuân Đỉnh Sports Hall (Hanoi) witnessed an unexpected outcome for the home fans, as all Vietnamese players stopped before the quarter-finals.

The final hope of the team was the women's pair Phạm Thị Diệu Ly/Phạm Thị Khánh also could not create a surprise on March 26. Against the strong opponent, the No. 8 seeded Japanese pair Moe Aoki/Hina Osawa, the Vietnamese players competed hard but still had to accept defeat, officially closing the journey of the host badminton team at this year's tournament.

Earlier, a series of notable Vietnamese faces were eliminated early. In the men's singles event, the nation's top player Nguyễn Hải Đăng lost in a reversal to Wongsup Wongsup-in (Thailand). Meanwhile, Lê Đức Phát also stopped quickly after a defeat to Kim Hae-deun (South Korea).

In the women's singles event, Vũ Thị Trang also could not continue after losing to Liang Ting-yu (Chinese Taipei) following a comeback by the opponent. Young player Bùi Bích Phương did not create a surprise against Peng Yu-wei, while veteran Nguyễn Tiến Minh and some other representatives had to stop from the qualifying round.

Perhaps the most regrettable was the men's doubles event, when the reigning champion pair Nguyễn Đình Hoàng/Trần Đình Mạnh could not defend their title. This pair lost to the duo Cho Song-hyun/Kim Jae-hyeon (South Korea), thus leaving the competition early. Trần Đình Mạnh later also could not go far in the mixed doubles event with Phạm Thị Khánh despite competing with great effort.

Another factor significantly affecting the team's performance was the absence of Vietnam's top women's player Nguyễn Thùy Linh, who just completed a tour in Europe and did not participate in this tournament.