Bigger, faster, stronger; Nhat Nguyen has proved productive throughout the coronavirus pandemic and the Ireland number one is planning to cause a shock when the Tokyo Olympics finally get staged in 2021.
The young Dubliner was all but qualified for the 2020 Games before lockdown scuppered this summer's plans, however, Nguyen has embraced the postponement and has made it a family affair over the last few months.
The European Junior bronze medallist has maintained his fitness regime in his sister’s gym throughout, while he has also rolled up his sleeves and helped out in the family business over the past few months.
And while Nguyen maintains his ambition to play full-time on the world badminton circuit, his short stint in his parents’ Chinese restaurant on the northside of Dublin has given him an appreciation of the life that he now enjoys.
"If it goes ahead or doesn’t go ahead, it doesn’t really [bother me] as I know I have another two or three Olympics after that," said a pragmatic Nguyen, speaking to RTE Sport.
"I’ve got another year of gaining strength, learning new skills, developing my game, so I will be a lot faster and stronger player in 2021 than 2020, so I definitely feel that the postponement is in my favour.
"I feel more powerful with my movement and my strokes, so hopefully I can add that into my game when I do get back into competition.
"I worked for the first few weeks in my parents’ restaurant, cutting veg, doing deliveries, and that was a weird experience and a learning curve, as my parents work long hours.
"I didn’t think it would be that hard, as I did my morning session and my gym work and then go to work for my parents from 5pm to 11pm and I’m wrecked after that, I don’t know how they do that every single day.
"So I definelty have a lot more respect for what they do and I am a lot more humbled by it."
Nguyen has been back training for the past few weeks, albeit, under restrictions as players were not allowed to touch the same shuttlecock, while the standard Covid caution of hand sanitisation and temperature checks provided constant reminders of the ongoing situation.
With talk of international tournaments returning in November, Nguyen is realistically targeting the new year before he can really get back into a routine that can help him prepare for next summer’s Games.
Nguyen grew up playing alongside the Magee siblings, Chloe and Sam, and while competition is limited in Ireland, the 20-year-old will compete in both the German and Danish leagues over the next 12 months, which will provide vital game time against players of similar standard to what he might expect at the Olympics.
And Nguyen believes that his transition from the junior level on to the senior circuits has improved dramatically after an admittedly shaky start.
"As a junior player in the seniors, I was doing quite well, so I had a lot of expectation when I turned senior. For the first four tournaments after I turned 19, I didn’t perform very well and I was questioning myself saying 'I should be doing better’ as I was full time and not going to school.
"But once I got my head around it, I knew I needed to be more mature, and then results started to come and performances started to get better.
"Once I got a couple of wins in, I ended up in the latter stages of most tournaments that I was in, which was quite good for the Olympics as you need to be consistent to qualify for Tokyo as they take your best ten tournaments."
is a principal partner to Team Ireland
Nguyen has sampled the Olympic atmosphere before, having competed at the Junior Olympics in Argentina back in 2018, and while he felt that it gave him a real feeling for the main event when it does come around, he has offered some advice for those who are going to miss the next edition of the Junior Games, which have been pushed out to 2026 as a result of the pandemic.
"It was like a pre-Olympics and you really get the vibe of being in a village, sharing a room with someone, eating with other athletes in the food hall and being part of a team.
"So it was a great way to get used to the environment, a great opportunity to meet new people and learn and understand the feeling of being in the village.
"I think [the postponement] is an opportunity missed, but I don’t think they should worry, as there is a lot of tournaments in badminton that you can gain experience from, playing in other countries and playing people at a higher level than you."
And looking on to the next 12 months, Nguyen is in an enviable position to maintain a full-time badminton lifestyle thanks to sponsorship and playing abroad, while living rent and bill free at the family home.
"I’m still living with my parents, so I don’t have to pay house bills and I am well supported and thankful for my sponsors, FBD and the Olympic Council.
"I know badminton is not a big-money sport, but if you can make your way into the top 10 or 20 in the world you can make a living and that’s what I intend to do, soon.
"I will be playing Danish and German league, and the Danish league is where most of the top players are, so I happy to get the opportunity to show my level there this year.
"Club matches are still going ahead in October, so far, and I use those games as match practice, like in a tournament, playing against players who I don’t play against too often.
"In practice, you can mimic playing games, but tournaments are a lot more intense as you cannot go as hard in training."
In essence, the road to Tokyo begins again for Nguyen and coming out of the pandemic, the Clarehall native is looking to ease back into competition, when it does finally restart with the obvious ambition of peaking next summer at the Olympics and emulating Scott Evans by causing a shock on the biggest badminton stage of all.
"My initial target is to get myself back into the playing zone and not focus on results. If the results come, that’s great, and the things that I am working on in training work, that’s great. But if it doesn’t, I know that it is only the beginning of coming back.
"In my mind, I am definitely going to Tokyo, I am 99.99% sure and I am all prepared for Tokyo, so hopefully injuries don’t come into play.
"I will be put into a group with one of the top 16 seeds and I definitely feel after my performance at the world championships last year that I can compete with the top 10 players.
"And I definitely feel that I can cause an upset and shock the badminton world. That’s the plan."
