Nguyen Hai Dang exits in the round of 16 at the Singapore International Challenge 2026

Vietnam's badminton contingent is reduced to a single competitor at this year's Singapore International Challenge after Nguyen Hai Dang's loss.

Vietnam's top men's singles badminton player, Nguyen Hai Dang, was eliminated in the round of 16 at the Singapore International Challenge 2026 after a 0-2 defeat (17-21; 17-21) against Eogene Ewe on the morning of February 27, Hanoi time.

Hai Dang (seed number 4, world rank 68) was theoretically rated higher than Eogene Ewe (seed number 12, world rank 86), but Ewe is a promising young talent in Malaysian badminton and it was not easy for the Vietnamese representative to secure a victory.

The two sides produced an exciting first game. Ewe started better, after which Hai Dang staged a strong comeback to take a 10-6 lead. However, from this point onward, the match completely slipped away from the grasp of Vietnam's number one player.

Ewe scored eight consecutive points to surge ahead 14-10, much to Hai Dang's surprise. For the remainder of the game, the Ho Chi Minh City-based player tried to recover points, but his opponent also played very steadily, expertly maintaining a four-point advantage until the end.

The second game was extremely dramatic, with the two players trading points closely until 13-13 before Eogene Ewe pulled ahead by two points. From here, the match was completely controlled by the Malaysian representative, who accelerated and finished the game with a 21-17 score, identical to the first game.

Nguyen Hai Dang's defeat means Vietnam's badminton now has only one remaining representative at the Singapore International Challenge 2026: the women's doubles pair of Pham Thi Dieu Ly and Pham Thi Khanh. The number 4 seeded pair will face opponents from Chinese Taipei on the afternoon of February 27, Hanoi time.

Previously, other top names in Vietnamese badminton such as Le Duc Phat, the couple Nguyen Tien Minh - Vu Thi Trang, and the men's doubles pair Nguyen Dinh Hoang - Tran Dinh Manh had all been eliminated.