Vietnam's Tien Minh game for his fourth Olympics
Retiring from the game is not in the list of 14-time Vietnam national men's singles champion Nguyen Tien Minh.
Instead, the 37-year-old is game for his fourth Olympics but "will see how the situation goes" before deciding on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He played in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, London (2012) and the Rio Olympics in 2016.
"Playing in the Superseries is very tough these days. Instead, I will compete in more International and Challenge series to gain rankings points. It depends on my ranking," said Tien Minh.
The Vietnamese veteran, who won the bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in Guangzhou, marched into the semi-finals in the on-going Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan, China on Friday.
Tien Minh had a free ride into the last four when last year's runners-up Chen Long of China conceded a walkover when the fourth seed came down with high fever.
In the second-round, Tien Minh upstaged Indonesian youngster, giant killer Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-15, 13-21, 21-13 in a 59-minute match. Rhustavito defeated India's fifth seed K. Srikanth 21-16, 22-20 in the first round on Wednesday.
"The speed of the shuttle played a part in my win today. I slowed down the game...I would have lost if the shuttle had been fast. My opponent (Shesar) is good. He has a good future in the game."
Chen Long defeated Malaysian professional Chong Wei Feng 21-16, 21-7 in the second round.
Meanwhile, defending champion Kento Momota eased into the last eight with a 21-10, 21-11 win over Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong China. India's Sameer Verma also advanced with a 21-12, 21-19 win Angus Ng Ka Long (Hong Kong China).
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