The World Badminton Federation is impressed by Nguyễn Thùy Linh's performance

Nguyễn Thùy Linh rapidly gained notice right from her opening match of the 2026 season.

Vietnam’s top badminton player, Nguyễn Thùy Linh, recently caused an upset at the 2026 India Open by coming from behind to defeat the home favorite star Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, securing a spot in the round of 16.

Although she had beaten Sindhu in their last two encounters, Thùy Linh was still considered the underdog, especially since the Indian player had just reached the semifinals of the prestigious Malaysia Masters last week and was competing on home ground. Nevertheless, Thùy Linh’s smart tactics and excellent defensive counterattacks helped the "Vietnamese badminton beauty" once again bring disappointment to the former world champion.

After the match, the official website of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) published a dedicated article about Thùy Linh’s victory. The headline read: "India Open: Thùy Linh eliminates the host nation’s top hope, Sindhu"The article praised the Vietnamese player’s strong defensive skills, which not only helped her withstand Sindhu’s pressure but also forced the former world number two into making many unforced errors — a key factor in Linh’s comeback.

The article also highlighted that Thùy Linh currently leads Sindhu 3-2 in their head-to-head record and included comments from Vietnam’s number one player after the match.

"Sindhu performed excellently last week, and when I found out I had to face her, I thought, ‘Oh my God, she just reached the Super 1000 semifinal.’"said the player from Phú Thọ."I couldn’t overthink it. I knew she would attack continuously, and my job was to block those attacks."

The courageous win over Sindhu allowed Nguyễn Thùy Linh to advance to the round of 16 at the Super 750 India Open this year, where she will face the current world number two, Wang Zhiyi, at 11:30 AM on January 15th Hanoi time.