Nguyễn Thùy Linh faces the world’s number 2 player in the round of 16 at the 2026 India Open

Vietnam’s top-ranked player has landed in a very challenging bracket at this year’s India Open.

The leading hope of Vietnamese badminton currently, Nguyễn Thùy Linh, caused a major upset by defeating the host nation’s top player—who once ranked number 2 globally, world champion, and World Tour Finals winner: Pusarla Venkata Sindhu—in a thrilling three-game match on the afternoon of January 14, Hanoi time.

This marks Thùy Linh’s first time advancing past the first round at the prestigious Super 750 level India Open. Her next opponent in the round of 16 was confirmed shortly after.

Accordingly, Thùy Linh will face Wang Zhiyi —the current world number 2 female player. In her opening match, Wang faced considerable resistance, needing three games to overcome the home country’s top young talent, Tanvi Sharma.

Born in 2000, Wang Zhiyi is currently China’s top female badminton player. She has achieved numerous major titles: winner of the 2024 World Tour Finals, 2 Asian Games gold medals, 2 Uber Cup golds, 3 Sudirman Cup golds, etc. At this moment, Wang is arguably only ranked below An Se-young.

Last week, Wang Zhiyi competed at the Super 1000 Malaysia Masters, where she reached the final and earned the silver medal after losing to the world’s number 1 player from Korea.

Nguyễn Thùy Linh and Wang Zhiyi have met only once before, at the 2025 Malaysia Masters quarterfinals. The Chinese player, with superior skill, easily won 21-11, 21-15.

Creating an upset is never easy, but in badminton and sports in general, nothing is impossible. Especially considering Wang just completed a long week of competition in Malaysia and immediately traveled to India, with limited time to adapt to the weather conditions and the dusty courts here, Vietnamese badminton fans can fully believe in a miracle.

The match between Nguyễn Thùy Linh and Wang Zhiyi in the round of 16 at the Super 750 India Open 2026 will take place tomorrow, January 15, with the exact time yet to be announced.