Vietnam wins first ASIAD medal

Vietnamese wushu artist Nguyen Manh Quyen snagged the first medal for
Vietnam on Nov. 14, the second day of the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD)
which is taking place in Guangzhou , China .

Quyen performed excellently and scored 9.69 points in both Daoshu and
Gunshu events to win a bronze medal with a total of 19.38 points, behind
gold medal winner Jia Rui from Macau and silver medalist Lee Jong-chan
from the Republic of Korea .

Winning a medal was a surprise for Quyen, who is participating in the Asian Games for the first time.

Also on the second day of the competition, Nguyen Phuc Long won his Indonesian rival in the eight-ball billiard.

In
Judo, Nguyen Thi Ly lost her Kazakhstan rival in the women’s 70kg
category, while Le Khac Nhan lost his Japanese artist in the men’s 81kg.

The
shooting team ranked fifth among participating teams, while the female
football team played the first match at the games, loosing 1-6 against
the girls from the Republic of Korea . The Vietnamese girls were
scheduled to play against the host China on Nov. 16./.

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Vietnam to compete in Olympics 2012 football qualifiers

Photo: Tuoi Tre

As one of 13 seeds, Vietnam -- the only team in Southeast Asia region -- directly comes to round two of the Asian qualifiers including 35 teams of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

They will fight it out for three spots in the men's competition to advance to the finals in London.

Participating teams in the men's competition are Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen. Jordan are the notable absentees.

Of them, 22 lowest ranked teams, based on the qualifiers and final round of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, were drawn to play in a home-and-away format on February 23, 2011 and March 9, 2011, with the winners making it to round two.

The 11 winners will join the 13 seeds in round two, which will also be played over two legs on June 19 and 23, 2011.

Winners from the 12 ties will be drawn into three groups of four for round three, with teams playing each other home and away across six matchdays from September 21, 2011 through to March 14, 2012. Top team in each group will automatically earn a place at the Olympics.

The runners-up in each group will then compete in the playoffs, with the three teams playing each other in a round-robin group at a centralized venue. The winners will then compete against the Confederation of African Football’s fourth-ranked team for a berth at London 2012.

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Vietnam beats 10-man China in AFF U16 opener

Vietnam beats 10-man China in AFF U16 opener

Late goal by captain Dang Anh Tuan earned Vietnam a 1-0 win over 10-man China in the opener of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U16 Championship in Indonesia on Monday.

China is obviously one of the strongest at the contest but their defender Liu Yiming was sent off some 15 minutes from full time.

An AFF website report said the loss of the defender was not the main reason for China’s loss to Vietnam at the Manahan Stadium in Solo.

“Although China had the bigger share of possession, their strikers were unable to crack the Vietnam defense,” the report said.

Vietnamese coach Hoang Van Phuc said, “The turning point came in the second half when Vietnam switched from firm defense to fast attacks, surprising the Chinese rivals, bringing lots of trouble to the Chinese players, who deliberately resorted to several fouls.”

Consequently, Liu Yiming picked up two yellow cards and was sent off before China conceded the 83^rd-minute goal.

Phuc said, “The Vietnamese players had a good strategy with players in every position playing consistently.”

The team had played against big rivals like the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea in the qualifiers last year, so they were not afraid of bigger opponents. Phuc said he hoped the players would continue to play well against Indonesia in the next game.

Reported by Giang Lao

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China take Asian junior women’s volleyball tourney

China’s team beat rivals from the Republic of Korea in straight
sets in the final of the 15th Asian Junior Women's Volleyball
Championship at HCM City 's Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium on Sept. 20.

The Chinese girls with their height advantage
got the better of the Koreans to win their ninth title out of ten
tournaments since 1992; the only remaining title was won by Japan
two years ago in Chinese Taipei.

The Republic of Korea has not won the title since they hosted the tournament in 1980.

The player of the tournament was awarded to Liu Yanhan. The top
scorer went to Park Jeong-ah while Mari Horikawa won the best server and
spiker. Yang Zhou was voted the best blocker, Wu Bei the best setter
while Sumiko Mori won best libero.

Japan overcame Thailand to take the third place and Chinese Taipei beat Kazakhstan to take fifth place.

Vietnam finished eighth after losing to Indonesia in straight
sets. The disappointing result is a warning to Vietnam that it needs
to invest more in women's volleyball if it wants to maintain its number
two rank in Southeast Asia in the future.

The
biennial tournament made its debut in 1980 and China have won most
titles (9), followed by Japan (5) and the RoK (1)./.

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Hanoi hosts international piano competition

The first Hanoi International Piano Competition will kick off on Sept. 5 at the Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAM).

The event will continue until September 13 with the participation of
63 contestants from the Republic of Korea , Japan , Malaysia ,
Thailand , Indonesia , the Philippines , Canada , Russia , Taiwan
and host Vietnam .

The biennial competition, with
categories for pianists aged 10-13, 14-17, and 18-25, is being
co-sponsored this year by Techcombank and Vietnam Airlines, said VNAM
director Ngo Van Thanh.

"Contestants in the youngest
age group who make it to the final round will have to play a piece by
Chopin, followed by the first, second and third movements of sonatas by
either Mozart, Haydn, or Kuhlau," Thanh said.

Pianists in the 14-17-year-old group will play two 15-20-minute pieces
by Chopin in addition to one work by a romantic or 20th century
composer, while the oldest contestants will have to compete playing
Chopin's Concerto No 1 or No 2 with Polish conductor Jacek Rogala and
the Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra.

The winner in each
category will receive a cash prize of 1,000 USD, 1,500 USD and 2,000
USD, respectively, with lesser awards for second and third place
finishers. The youngest contestant in the final round will also receive a
special prize.

"The competition can be regarded as
the largest in the region," said VNAM faculty member Tran Thu Ha, who
will chair the jury panel. "Playing an entire concerto in 30-40 minutes
with a conductor and an orchestra is really a challenge for an artist".

Ha has served on the juries of several regional
piano competitions. She graduated from the Kiev Conservatory in Russia
in 1975 and earned a doctorate from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in
Moscow in 1978.

Many of her students have been
winners or finalists in competitions in Italy , Australia , Indonesia
, Japan and the Republic of Korea .

The
remaining members of the jury include Michel Bourdoncle ( France ), Hae
Won-chang (the Republic of Korea ), Teruko Hakuta ( Japan ), Kyunghee
Lee ( Australia ), Ruvim Ostrovsky ( Russia ) and Snezana Panovska
(Macedonia/Malaysia).

Vietnamese pianist Dang Thai
Son, the first Asian to win a gold medal at the International Chopin
Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1980, will be the competition's
honourable president and art director.

Son has
served on the juries of a number of Chopin competitions in 2010, marking
the 200th birthday of the Polish composer. In this competition, the
best performer of Chopin's music will receive a special prize.

Competitions are open to the public and will take place at 9am-2pm
everyday during September 6-12 at VNAM, 77 Hao Nam street , in
Hanoi . The competition winners will perform at a gala concert on
September 13 at the Hanoi Opera House./.

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