First Hai Phong badminton player to compete at Youth Olympics
Hai Phong badminton player Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen will compete at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the world’s premier sporting event for young athletes.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) and the International Olympic Committee have awarded Vietnam an official quota place in the women’s singles event at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The Vietnam Badminton Federation and the national team’s coaching staff selected Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen to represent the country.
Born in 2011 in Ngo Village, Lai Cach Town, Cam Giang District of the former Hai Duong Province, now Tu Minh Ward, Hai Phong City, Thu Huyen is regarded as one of Vietnam’s brightest young badminton talents.
At just five years old, she won the Hai Duong Provincial Teenagers and Children’s Badminton Championship. By the age of nine, she claimed a national double title in girls’ singles and girls’ doubles at the National Junior Badminton Championships and was later called up to the national team while still in fifth grade.
In 2022, at the age of 11, she also won the women’s singles title at the Hai Duong Provincial Sports Games. In 2024, Thu Huyen finished as runner-up in the girls’ U15 singles event at the Asian U15 & U17 Badminton Championships.
Most recently, at the Philippines International Junior Championships, Thu Huyen won two U19 runner-up titles in women’s singles and mixed doubles.
According to the BWF world rankings released at the end of July 2026, she is ranked No. 288 in women’s singles, having climbed up to 752 places since December 2025.
She will become the first athlete from Hai Phong to compete at the Youth Olympic Games.
TIEN HUY