Fan meeting «Bạn có hẹn với Chiharu Shida» (A Date with Chiharu Shida)

   An Olympic medallist walks into a district sports hall in Tay Ho, close enough for Hanoi fans to meet her, talk to her and take a photo. For the city's badminton community this is the rare case of a leading Japanese name showing up outside a tournament draw.

   Chiharu Shida plays women's doubles with Nami Matsuyama. The pair have twice won the All England, the oldest tournament in the sport, in 2022 and 2025, and took bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics, beating Malaysia's Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah in the third-place match. Her game runs on speed and on the precision of each shot, which is where the nickname her fans use — the badminton goddess — comes from.

   The visit has its own backstory: in 2026 Shida left Yonex to become the new face of Li-Ning, and it is Li-Ning's Vietnamese distributor that has brought her to Hanoi.

   The session is aimed at club and recreational players, at the city's badminton groups, and at anyone who has followed the Japanese women's doubles pair through televised finals. The organisers describe it as a meet-and-greet, not a match.

   Doors open an hour before the stated start so that guests can check in, so allow extra travel time. Tay Ho sits north of the centre, past West Lake.

   One evening to meet in person the player you are used to watching on a screen.