Nguyen Tien Minh defeats Chou Tien-chen, clinching a prestigious international championship

"Minh Ca" has consistently been the foremost hope for Vietnamese badminton in major tournaments during his peak performance era.

In 2012, the Vietnamese badminton icon Nguyen Tien Minh made a powerful mark on the international stage by winning the Chinese Taipei Open 2012 title after a convincing victory over the host nation's star Chou Tien-chen in the final held on October 7.

At that time, Chou Tien-chen was ranked 43rd globally according to the BWF (Badminton World Federation) rankings, while Nguyen Tien Minh held the 13th position and was the tournament's second seed. The ranking disparity somewhat reflected the match's progression as the Vietnamese representative controlled the game and faced little difficulty securing victory.

Right from the first set, Tien Minh demonstrated superiority through solid play and skillful shuttle placement. The Vietnamese player continuously executed sustained attacking rallies, combining tricky placements that forced errors from his opponent. He achieved an impressive scoring streak by winning 13 consecutive points to establish a large 18-5 lead. Despite great effort, Chou Tien-chen could not reverse the situation and conceded the first game with a score of 11-21.

Moving into the second game, the host player competed more cautiously and somewhat improved his position. Chou Tien-chen managed to catch up and raised the score to 17. However, facing Tien Minh's stability and competitive composure, the Chinese Taipei player could not create a surprise. "Minh Ca" closed the game with a 21-17 score, including 8 direct point-winning smashes, thereby securing a final 2-0 victory after 42 minutes of play, elevating a valuable title in Taipei.

In that year's tournament, Nguyen Tien Minh, as the second seed, affirmed his superior capability. He was exempt from the first round, then successively defeated Wei Nan (Hong Kong), Iskandar Zainuddin (Malaysia), Wong Wing Ki (Hong Kong - sixth seed), Chong Wei Feng (Malaysia), and finally Chou Tien-chen without losing any game.

That was also the first time "Minh Ca" and Chou faced each other in their careers. They met four more times: Tien Minh won two consecutive matches at the Singapore Open and US Open 2014, while "Teacher Chou" responded with victories at the Asian Championships and Chinese Taipei Open 2015.

After that year's final, both continued to achieve significant success on the Tour. Tien Minh earned a World Championship bronze medal in 2013, an Asian Championship bronze in 2019, and maintained his passion, continuing professional play at age 43; while Chou Tien-chen also competes very persistently, currently featured in the world top 10 and receives widespread admiration from fans for his talent and great character.