Most Outstanding Athletes 2010 selected

Japan's Momoko Takahashi (R), Vietnam's Vu Thi Huong (C) and Uzbekistan's Guzel Khubbieva run their women's 100m final at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Guangdong province last month - Photo: Reuters

HCMC - Track-and-field athlete Vu Thi Huong, the “Queen of Speed” in Southeast Asia, has been selected the Best Athlete of 2010 followed by her teammate Truong Thanh Hang and Asian Games gold medalist Le Bich Phuong.

Vietnamese track-and-field athletes showed some excellent performances at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou, China last month, taking home three silvers and two bronzes. Huong, along with fellow runners Truong Thanh Hang and Vu Van Huyen, were all nominated for Vietnam’s top 10 outstanding athletes.

Vu Thi Huong from the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, who won Best Athlete of 2009, secured the second consecutive title by making history for Vietnam athletics at ASIAD by winning Vietnam’s first ever medal at the games - a bronze medal in the women’s 100m event. She also won a silver in the 200m race.

Huong beat Hang to the title as she picked up 1,213 points, while Hang, who grasped two silver medals in the ASIAD in the women’s 800m and 1500m events, came second with 1,208 points.

Though athlete Le Bich Phuong won the only gold medal for Vietnam at ASIAD in the women’s karate 55kg category, she came third with 1,047 points.

The other winners in the top 10 were the world’s number seven badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh (631 points), track and field athlete Vu Van Huyen (582 points), chess player Le Quang Liem (558 points), weightlifter Thach Kim Tuan (331 points), shooter Ha Minh Thanh (274 points), wrestler Le Thi Lua (257 points), and swimmer Hoang Quy Phuoc (218).

For contributing to the track and field team’s great victory last year, coach Ho Thi Tu Tam from Danang Sports Training Center was voted Coach of the Year 2010 with 463 points, beating Karate head coach Le Cong from the Army team and track and field coach Nguyen Dinh Minh from HCMC, who won second and third places with 395 and 376 points respectively

Meanwhile, shooting coach Nguyen Thi Nhung from the General Department of Sports and Physical Training earned fourth position with 167 points, followed by chess coach Lam Minh Chau from HCMC with 138 points.

Swimmer Vo Thanh Tung from HCMC, who won a gold and a silver at the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China, won the best para-athlete award with 550 points, while badminton coach Le Thuy Ha received the nomination for most outstanding coach for disabled athletes in the vote by journalists and sports experts with 332 points. 

Hundreds of sports experts and journalists from Hanoi, HCMC and Danang voted over the weekend for the top 10 athletes, top five coaches, top five para-athletes and top three para-athletes’ coaches.

The annual vote was organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Vietnam Fund for Supporting Young Talent and The Thao Viet Nam (Vietnam Sports) newspaper.

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Sharp shooters shoot down 2 silvers

Silverware: Dang Hong Ha (centre) and her teammates Cu Thi Thanh Tu and Nguyen Thu Hang celebrate after winning a silver medal in the 10m air rifle mobile target team event at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Quoc Khanh

HA NOI — Sharpshooters Dang Hong Ha, Cu Thi Thanh Tu and Nguyen Thi Hang bagged the silver medal in the women's 10m mobile target air rifle team event at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China yesterday.

The trio accumulated a total of 1,084 points to finish second, 62 points behind China.

North Korea came third with 1,068 points.

The men's shooters bagged one more silver and bronze for Viet Nam yesterday.

Ha Minh Thanh scored 583 points in the men's 25m individual rapid fire pistol to equal Chinese Li Yuehong after 60 shots. But Thanh had to take the silver as he lost to the Chinese shooter in the final 10 shots with 196.7 points, 3.1 points lower than Li's achievement.

Thanh and his teammates, Bui Quang Nam and Pham Anh Dat, also bagged a bronze medal in the team event with a total of 1,718 points.

Wushu artist Pham Quoc Khanh took the bronze in the men's all-around nanquan (ultimate fist) and nangun (rod play) with a total 19.33 points in the men's taolu (performance) event yesterday.

Vietnamese athletes took home two silver and three bronze medals in the Asian Games yesterday.

International Grand Master (IGM) Le Quang Liem gained 5.5 points to take the lead in the men's individual chess tournament at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

Liem won five matches including two wins over the Asian Games' defending champion Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan, Chinese Bu Xiangzhi.

The 19-year-old hopes to maintain his momentum as he gets ready for his next matches today.

Martial artist Nguyen Thi Bich beat Elina Chaudhary of Nepal 2-0, earning a semi-final berth in the women's 52kg sanshou (combat) event. — VNS

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Teenagers take the plunge

Making a splash: Swimmer Hoang Quy Phuoc is among the several Vietnamese competitors making their debut at Asia's biggest sports event, the Asian Games, in Guangzhou, China next month. — File Photo

HA NOI — Teenage trio Nguyen Hoang Thien, Nguyen Thi Kim Tuyen and Hoang Quy Phuoc will make their debut at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China next month.

Swimmers Phuoc and Tuyen, two of Viet Nam's top swimmers, have been training in China in preparation for the biggest sporting event in Asia.

Prodigy Phuoc,17, from Da Nang has sustained the form that helped him win a 100m butterfly bronze medal in the Southeast Asian Games in Laos last year with a time of 55.65sec.

"Phuoc has rapidly perfected his skills in training. He has knocked his personal best time down to 54.71sec in his favourite 100m butterfly event," said Nguyen Dang Ha, who coaches Phuoc at the national sports camp No 3 in Da Nang.

"However, the Asian Games will be tough for Phuoc as he will face top stars from China, Japan and South Korea. I believe he will give a lifetime best performance at the Guangzhou Asian Games," Ha added.

The Da Nang-born swimmer has an arm span of 1.98m, which helps him move quickly through the water.

Meanwhile, Tuyen, 16, from HCM City also triumphed in the national championships last year bagging 10 gold medals and breaking eight records.

"She is one of Viet Nam's most talented swimmers. She wins gold almost every time she gets into the water at the national championships. Tuyen is capable of competing in the freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and medley relay," said the general secretary of the Viet Nam Aquatic Sport Association, Dinh Viet Hung.

"But Tuyen needs more competitions and tests before the Asian Games. A lack of big games experience against strong opposition is her Achilles' heel but I hope she overcomes that at the Games that start in two weeks time," Hung said.

The swimming events, with 38 medal sets up for grabs, will be held from November 13-18.

Nguyen Hoang Thien, 15, recently won two International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior single's titles in a fortnight.

Thien triumphed in the boy's singles at the International Junior Championships in southern Bac Lieu Province, just a week before cruising to victory at the Viet Nam International Junior Championships in Binh Duong.

He has climbed from 497th in the ITF junior rankings to 338th since last year, and he's looking to break into the top 200 in the world by the time he's 18.

"It's the first time he has been called to the national team to compete at the Asian Games, but I'm not worried because he has already experienced numerous international competitions," said Thien's father, Nguyen Hoang Minh.

"He still has his eye on ITF tournaments to boost his world ranking, which hopefully will enable him to compete at a Grand Slam someday," Minh said.

Thien is expected to play one more tournament before flying to Guangzhou.

The tennis event will take place from November 13-23.

Viet Nam announced its 260-member squad ago to compete in 29 of the 42 events at the 16th festival from November 12-27. Viet Nam hopes to finish in the top 15 out of the 45 participating countries and territories. — VNS

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National squad take on Kuwait at Millennium Cup

The Viet Nam national team will meet Kuwait's U-23 team in the opening game of the Millennium Football Cup at 7pm at My Dinh National Stadium today.

At a press conference yesterday, team coach Henrique Calisto said the cup would be good preparation for Viet Nam before they defend the ASEAN Football Championship AFF-Suzuki Cup in December.

Meanwhile the Kuwait team were eager to get going and started training just three hours after a 30 hour flight on Saturday. The tournament will also be part of both teams' preparations for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in November.

Kuwait's coach U-23 Al Semmari said his team would include 12 players who played in the Gulf Cup final against the United Arabs of Emirates last month.

Australia's U-23 team will also have a tough match against North Korea in today's early game.

HCM City to host record-breaking marathon football event

A record breaking nine hour footballing extravaganza will take place at HCM City's Military Zone 7 Stadium on October 10.

According to organisers, the HCM City Young Business Association, the event will see over 1,000 amateurs from 108 squads take part.

"There will be 54 matches of 10 minutes each," committee member Phan Xuan Truong said.

Olympic team beat Cambodia 2-0 in HCM City friendly

Viet Nam's Olympic football team beat Cambodia's 2-0 in a friendly at HCM City's Thanh Long Sports Centre on Saturday.

Van Thang scored from a free kick, while defender Huu Phuoc volleyed home from teammate Thanh Trung's corner .

Viet Nam will meet Cambodia at Thong Nhat Stadium in a rematch tomorrow.

SEA Games champion Long victorious at Ha Noi Open

Hanoian Nguyen Phuc Long edged Quoc Tuan of Hai Phong 9-8 in the men's singles final of the Ha Noi Pool-9 Open on Saturday.

Long, who won the gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games in Laos last year, pocketed prize money of VND16 million ($820).

Minh to be nation's sole badminton representative at Asian Games

Viet Nam will send top player Nguyen Tien Minh to compete in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China on November 11-27, the Viet Nam Badminton Federation announced.

Minh, who ranks eighth in the world, will face tough opponents in the battle for the men's singles title at the Asian Games.

The 25-year-old won the Australian Open Grand Prix, but failed to qualify for quarters-final in the World Badminton Championship in Paris last month. — VNS

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