Nhat Nguyen, just one week after recovering from a bout of pneumonia, got his first win in five matches against Toby Penty to make the third round of the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021.
It was a close call, with Penty saving four match points in the second game, before Nguyen converted his fifth opportunity. Still struggling to breathe, Nguyen said he’d given it everything, and was happy to have prevented the match from going to a third game.
“Leading into this I had less than one week practice. I had pneumonia for nearly four weeks. So one week before this I wasn’t even sure if I’d be participating,” said the Ireland lad.
“That’s why towards the end my condition wasn’t really so good. It was a little bit tense because I didn’t know if I’d last a third game. The second game was important for me. But I fought with everything I had. I’m lucky it was just enough. I was cramping and had a weird sensation on court. I was a bit lucky towards the end.
“Pneumonia’s set me back, definitely. I’m struggling to breathe. My legs feel it. I have a bad record against Toby, so this win was quite big for me. I struggled before, so I’m happy I could overcome him. This was actually an important win.”