Nguyen Thuy Linh faces German champion Yvonne Li seven times in her opening match at Swiss Open 2026

Vietnam's number one badminton player seeks a positive result in her initial match at the Swiss Open this year.

Vietnam's current top badminton player - Nguyen Thuy Linh will participate in the Super 350 tournament Swiss Open 2026 held in Basel, Switzerland this week. The draw was determined early, but only on March 10 did Thuy Linh learn who her opponent in Basel this year would be.

Accordingly, the "Vietnamese badminton beauty" will face Yvonne Li - the world's 52nd-ranked German player. The Chinese-origin player had to enter Swiss Open 2026 from the qualifying round, but she didn't spend much time overcoming this stage by defeating Lee Yu-hsuan 21-13; 21-15.

Li, born in 1998, once reached her highest ranking at world number 21 in July 2023. She won three bronze medals at the European Junior Badminton Championships, helped the German team win silver and bronze medals at continental-level team events, and also claimed four titles at the International Challenge/Series level.

She is the reigning German badminton champion, dominating the German National Championships for many years. From 2019 to 2026, Li has stood on the top podium of the domestic competition seven times.

However, Yvonne Li's recent form has not been high. Counting only tournaments within the BWF World Tour system, the 27-year-old player has lost five consecutive matches recently. At the first tournament of the season at a lower level - Azerbaijan International 2026, she also lost in the first round.

Nguyen Thuy Linh and Yvonne Li have never faced each other on the Tour, but they have met in junior tournaments and International Challenge/Series events.

At the 2014 World Junior Badminton Team Championships, Vietnam faced Germany in the 11-12 placement match. Nguyen Thuy Linh and Do Thi Phuong Mai lost to Yvonne Li/Eva Voelker in the women's doubles, but later in the women's singles, Thuy Linh excellently overcame Li, forcing the Vietnam-Germany pair to enter the decisive men's singles match.

Here, player Vo Thien Bao narrowly lost to Max Weisskirchen, placing the Vietnamese juniors 12th overall in this tournament.

Additionally, Thuy Linh and Li met again in the semifinals of Czech Open 2018, where the German player "celebrated victory" by winning after two games.

The match between Nguyen Thuy Linh and Yvonne Li in round 1 of Swiss Open 2026 is scheduled to take place at 22:30 on March 11 Vietnam time.