Exciting badminton tournament for age groups

The increase in the number of participating units and players, high quality and exciting matches contributed to the success of Khanh Hoa provincial badminton tournament for age groups 2025. The tournament was hailed as the most exciting and highest-quality one so far.

Running from October 21 to 26, this year’s tournament set a new record with the participation of 509 players, including 326 male and 183 female players, representing 57 units, clubs, and localities across the province. As said by said Phan Duc Cuong, director of the Sports Competition Services Center and deputy head of the organizing committee, this was the first provincial-level badminton tournament after the merger of Khanh Hoa Province and Ninh Thuan Province. Therefore, the organizing committee expanded the scale of the tournament, resulting in the improved quality. This will serve as a foundation and motivation for the province’s sports sector to continue maintaining and promoting this sport across the province.

"I grew up as an athlete from the province’s youth badminton movement. After more than a decade of competing and now coaching young athletes, I can say this is so fat the most outstanding tournament in all aspects, from the number of of participants and the quality of athletes to the organization method and referees. Specifically, the quality of players under 11 and 12 to14 is quite outstanding, which indicates that Khanh Hoa’s badminton has developed and is gradually catching up with other provinces and cities with strong badminton movement in the region," said Ngo Vu Hoang, head coach of the Speedy Club. 

The men’s singles final of 12-14 age group between Ho Bach (Speedy Club) and Nguyen Phan Gia Bao (Ly Thai To Junior High School) was an exciting and emotional match. The two players are considered "rivals" in provincial age-group and club tournaments. In this year’s final, Ho Bach excellently won the first set with a score of 21-18. In the second set, Nguyen Phan Gia Bao won 21-15 and leveled the match at 1-1. In the decisive third set, Gia Bao unexpectedly suffered a calf injury.The match had to be temporarily suspended for over 15 minutes for medical attention. While many spectators on the stands thought Gia Bao would concede a defeat. However, Gia Bao endured the pain and continued to play until the end. Despite his effort, the injury hampered his movement, forcing him to accept a 19-21 defeat. He lost the match 2-1 overall and claimed the silver medal.

After nearly 1 week of competition, the organizing committee awarded 26 sets of medals to the individuals and pairs of players achieving high results in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles, and mixed pairs across six age groups (from under 11 to over 51). 

AN NHIEN
Translated by H.N