Vietnamese badminton player chases Paralympic dream with one arm

Born in Da Nang City and raised with a love for sport, Tuan picked up a badminton racket at age eight.

He quickly showed promise, competing in school and then-district tournaments and dreaming of taking his game to the highest level.

But at 12, a life-altering diagnosis halted everything.

Doctors discovered a recurring malignant tumor in his left arm — and to stop the cancer from spreading, the limb had to be amputated.

At school, Tuan wore long sleeves and a cap, trying to hide his bald head after chemotherapy.

“It all happened so suddenly,” he said.

“I felt so self-conscious.”

For three years, he underwent grueling treatment.

His parents left their hometown and moved to the old Binh Duong Province, now part of Ho Chi Minh City following a recent administrative merger, to support his recovery, scraping by as medical costs mounted.

His mother, a teacher, remembered coming home from school in tears, but never letting her son see her cry.

Once outgoing and athletic, Tuan withdrew into himself, spending his days in silence, avoiding friends, and hiding from the world.

“What hurt most was not the illness,” said his father, Van Trong Thao, “but seeing our boy lose his spirit.”

Reigniting a passion

Everything changed in a high school gym class.

A teacher called on Tuan to demonstrate a few badminton moves to classmates.

“They cheered,” he smiled.

“It was the first time in years I felt proud.”

Encouraged, he picked up his racket again, now with just one arm.

At 15, he began training on his own.

The practice never stopped, even when he entered university.

In 2017, while in his second year, he started competing in amateur tournaments and winning.

Though physically limited, Tuan trained harder than ever.

He began running, strength training, and building his endurance to meet the physical demands of singles badminton where agility, reach, and reflexes are critical.

His breakthrough came in 2020, when he struck gold at Vietnam’s national championship for athletes with disabilities.

The victory reignited a long-held dream: to represent Vietnam on the global stage.

“There were times when I wanted to give up,” Tuan admitted.

“But every time I stepped back on the court, I remembered why I started.”

On the road to the Paralympics

Three times a week, after dark, Tuan rides over 22 kilometers from the old Binh Duong to training grounds in Ho Chi Minh City, practicing for two hours before making the long journey home.

His coach, Vo Thanh Trung, said Tuan’s training includes running, gym workouts, and core strength exercises to build endurance.

“Playing singles badminton demands a very high level of fitness,” he said.

In early June, Tuan won gold medals in both men’s singles and doubles at the national championship for disabled athletes in the then-Quang Nam Province, which has been merged into Da Nang City.

The achievement bolstered his hopes of competing in the 2028 Paralympic Games.

In 2024, Tuan completed a coaching course certified by the Badminton World Federation, a step toward his long-term goal of supporting other athletes with disabilities.

Each tournament now brings him closer to representing Vietnam on the Paralympic stage.

For his parents, the journey has already been a victory.

“His success is not just his,” said his mother, beaming.

“It’s the triumph of our whole family over the darkest time in our lives.”