Impressive Nhat Nguyen marches into Irish Open final

Reigning champion Nhat Nguyen marched into the AIG Victor Irish Open final on Friday as he defeated Finland's Kalle Koljonen 21-12, 21-16.

Two-time Irish Olympian Nguyen produced a strong performance at the National Indoor Arena in Dublin to get past 30-year-old Koljone, a bronze medal winner at the 2021 European Championships.

Nguyen goes up against Tan Jia Jie from Malaysia in Saturday's decider.

A year ago he won the Irish Open thanks to a stunning performance against Frenchman Alex Lanier.

Last summer, Nguyen failed to get out of a really difficult group at the Paris Games, losing to eventual gold medallist Viktor Axelsen in their climactic winner-takes-all clash.

Afterwards, the 24-year-old took the positives from his second Olympics, reflecting: "I can learn a lot from that game. When I play at my very best, I can compete. I can score points. It's just maintaining that for however long."

Another Irish Open would serve notice that his career remains on an unpward trajectory.