Vietnam clinches two more silvers at Guangzhou ASIAD

Vietnam’s U-23 football team eliminated;  women’s team suffer second loss

International grand master Le Quang Liem shows his silver medal at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China on Tuesday - Photo: TTXVN

HCMC – Vietnamese athletes took home two more silvers and four bronzes at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou, China on Tuesday. With four silvers and seven bronzes on the fourth day of competition, Vietnam climbed to the 13th place on the ranking table. 

Vietnamese wushu team continuously showed good performance when Nguyen Thanh Tung grasped the silver in the men’s taijiquan - taijijian all-round event.

Tung earned 8.67 points in the taijijian category on Tuesday morning and 9.65 points in the taijiquan category in the afternoon. The gold medal went to Wu Yanan of China, who secured 9.9 points each in the taijiquan and taijijian categories.

Nguyen Minh Thong brought home the bronze after losing 0-2 to Kim Tun Yul from South Korea in the semifinals of the men’s sanshou 60kg category and Vuong Dinh Khanh was defeated 1-2 by Cai Liangchan from Macao, China in the semifinals of the men’s sanshou 70kg category, gaining the bronze medal. 

Wushu team now leads the Vietnamese delegation in medal tally, taking two silver and four bronze medals.

International grand master Le Quang Liem failed to grasp the gold medal in the men’s individual of the chess event though he had two final victories over Sasikiran Krishnan from India and Megaranto Susanto from Indonesia in rounds 8 and 9 on Tuesday.

Kasimdzhanov Rustam from Uzbekistan and Liem secured 7.5 points each but the Uzbekistan player gained the gold thanks to his win over the Vietnamese player in round 7 on Monday.

Vietnamese billiards players suffered unlucky when they lost to their opponents in the semifinals of the billiards event later Tuesday, clinching the bronze medals. Ly The Vinh just gained the bronze after losing 36-40 Suzuki Tsuyoshi from Japan in the men’s carom 3 cushion singles event.

Duong Anh Vu was defeated 29-40 by Kai Joji from Japan in the same category, taking the bronze while Luong Chi Dung also lost 4-9 to Dang Jinhu from China in the qualifying round of the men’s 9-ball pool singles. 

Vietnamese women’s sepaktakaw team beat Japan 3-0 in the qualifying round on Tuesday while Vietnam lost 20-25, 16-25, 23-25 to India in the men’s volleyball event.

* Vietnam’s U-23 football team were ended their remarkable performance at the Asian Games after losing 0-2 to North Korea in the knock-out round on Tuesday. The loss means Vietnam surpassed its target set before ASIAD of reaching the last 16 round.

The North Korean players tested the Vietnamese defenders from the beginning but it wasn’t until the 34th minute that Choe Kum Chol opened for his team with a header.

Vietnam faced more difficulties in the 45th minute when midfielder Chu Ngoc Anh was sent off with a red card, however, the Vietnamese side suffered disadvantage again when Nguyen Van Hieu also received the second yellow card in the first minutes of the second half.

North Korea dominated possession in the second half and Choe Myong Ho finalized the game at 2-0 in the 90th minute with a penalty kick. 

In the women’s football event, Vietnam were also eliminated from competition after suffering a 0-1 loss to powerhouse China in their second game on Tuesday.

Although the Chinese players had the most possession over the game and managed to create dozens of chances, the Vietnamese side defense resiliently held out to keep a clean sheet.

China took an advance in a controversial goal when the referee gave China a free kick in the penalty box in the last minutes. Qu Suansan made no mistake in her free kick, giving her team the second win in the group of the competition.

Earlier, Vietnam lost 1-6 to South Korea in the opener. Vietnam are now still at third place with no point in hand. Vietnam will face Jordan on Thursday in the final game in the group stage while South Korea and China, who reached the quarterfinals, will meet each together for the top position of the group.

Medals Standings (at 10:00 p.m. Vietnamese time)

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	77	28	28	133
2 South Korea	22	17	27	66
3 Japan	15	34	29	78
4 North Korea	3	6	9	18
5 Chinese Taipei	3	5	13	21
6 Hong Kong	3	5	3	11
7 Kazakhstan	2	5	9	16
8 Uzbekistan	2	5	6	13
9 India	1	4	7	12
10 Malaysia	1	1	3	5
13 Vietnam	0	4	7	11

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Vietnam U23 football team beats Bahrain

Vietnam 's under-23s cruised past Bahrain 3-1 in their first match in the Asian Games on Nov. 8.

The win marks a good start for the team in Group B, which includes Iran , Turkmenistan , Bahrain and Vietnam.

At the opening game in Qatar Asian Games four years ago, Vietnam lost 2-1 to Bahrain .

Midfielder Nguyen Thanh Trung put Vietnam ahead just 34 minutes
into the game when he slotted home Pham Thanh Luong's through-ball.

Vietnam focused on a counter-attacking game, to nullify the
superior height and strength of their Bahraini opponents, and took the
lead into half time.

Fifteen minutes into second half,
Trung nearly scored a second goal but his free kick was saved by
Bahrain 's keeper Mushaima.

In the 72nd minute, Nguyen
Trong Hoang made it 2-0 from a quick counter-attack, before striker
Nguyen Anh Duc scored the third goal in the 88th minute.

Bahrain pulled back a consolation goal in the last minute.

Vietnam will meet Turkmenistan on Nov. 10 and Iran on Nov 13 at the Guangdong People's Stadium.

Team assistant coach Phan Thanh Hung said the team would try their best
to take a second or the best placed third in the group, which set them a
berth in the knock-out round.

Twenty-four teams are
taking part in the under-23s tournament, with the top two and four of
the best third-placed sides from the six groups advancing to the round
of 16./.

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Vietnam football chief dissatisfies local transfer window

Vietnam Football Federation chairman Nguyen Trong Hy

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) chairman Nguyen Trong Hy said the transfer price of local footballers is getting far beyond their actual values and thus it is bringing about bad effect to the national football development.

He labeled the local transfer window is almost in a chaos as clubs are chasing to sign qualified players at high-sky price when the new season will loom on January 22.

Hy agrees with Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC owner Doan Nguyen Duc that no Vietnamese player is worth over VND5 billion (US$256,000). But Cong Vinh, 25, of T&T Hanoi is priced VND20 billion (over $1 million). Navibank Saigon signed striker Quang Hai at the price of VND10 billion ($513,000). Minh Phuong also moved to SHB Danang for VND7 billion ($359,000).

With well-trained footballers under their age of 23 becoming a really scarce commodity, clubs have to accept the escalating price to have enough 25 players to register for the new season.

The rarity of young players is rooted from the fact that most of 14 clubs at the Vietnam’s premier league, V-League, have yet developed own policy for youth training -- excluding some clubs as Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Dong Thap, and Song Lam Nghe An.

And the hunt of young player has even become harsher for clubs when the Vietnam’s football governing body VFF has recently ruled that each club must register at least five under-23 players and a maximum of five foreign athletes.

The increasing price of player should be an encouraging factor if it reflects their real values, Hy noted.

It is not now in Vietnam, he added.

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Vietnam Olympic draws tough group for ASIAD

HCMC - Vietnam’s U-23 football team drew some of West Asia’s strongest teams in the group stages at 16th Asian Games (ASIAD), while the Vietnam women’s national football team will have to play powerhouse China and South Korea.

According to the draw, which took place in Guangzhou, China on Thursday, Vietnam has got stiff competition in Group B with Iran, Bahrain and Turkmenistan.

The men’s football event will have 24 teams compete in six groups with the top two teams of each group and four best third-placed teams qualifying for the last 16 round.

The hosts China will play against Japan, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia in Group A. South Korea will face North Korea, Palestine and Jordan in Group C. Group D comprises defending champions Qatar, Kuwait, India and Singapore.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong will compete in Group E including Uzbekistan, UAE and Bangladesh while Thailand are in Group F with the last ASIAD runners-up Iraq, Maldives and Oman.

The women’s football event will have seven teams compete in two groups and top two teams of each group qualifying to the semifinals. Vietnam are in Group A with hosts China, South Korea and Jordan while Thailand will play in Group B together with defending champions North Korea and runners-up Japan.

The group matches of the men’s football event will be played from November 7 to 25 while the women’s football event will take place from November 14 to 23.

In a friendly tournament to prepare for the ASIAD, Vietnam’s U-23 football team won the international football tournament - Eximbank Cup 2010 after trouncing Iran U21 2-0 during the final match in HCMC last month. The round-robin tournament drew the U-23 teams of Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Iran U21.

During the last ASIAD, which was held in Qatar four years ago, Vietnam’s U23 football team finished third position, however, the Vietnam Olympic team failed to qualify for the last 16 team. Vietnam were in the same group with South Korea, Bahrain and Bangladesh.

The 2010 Asian Games, also known as the 16th ASIAD, which will be held from November 12 to 27 in Guangzhou, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. Guangzhou is the second city in China to host the Games after Beijing in 1990.

A total of 476 events in 42 sports will be contested by athletes, making it the largest event in the history of the Games. It will also be the last one to have such big events, as the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has enforced new hosting rules beginning with the 2014 Games.

The Vietnamese delegation grabbed three gold, thirteen silver and seven bronze medals at the 15th Asian Games in Qatar, ending in 19th place overall in the medal standings. The Vietnamese delegation had send some 365 athletes, coaches, referees and officials to Asia’s biggest sporting event.

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Teenage team eyes AFC challenge

Vietnam 's U-16 football team will be going for broke to qualify for
the quarter-finals at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U16
Championship in Tashkent , Uzbekistan , from October 24 to November
7.

Team coach Hoang Van Phuc said Vietnam will
face tough opposition in Group C against Japan , Australia and East
Timor .

The championship will see 16 teams compete in four groups with the top teams qualifying for the semi-finals.

The four semi-finalists will also compete at the FIFA U-17 World Cup next year.

"It's a hard job for us, but then nothing is impossible in football.
I've told our players to work hard in preparation for the championship,"
said Phuc.

"The team is the strongest ever squad
that we've recruited from local youth training centres. All the players
are ready to fight for the AFC championship," he said.

Last week, his U-16 squad edged China 1-0 to win the ASEAN Football Federation Championship in Indonesia .

Phuc, who is coach of Hanoi T&T's youth team, said six key players
including playmaker Dang Anh Tuan, Nguyen Xuan Nam , goalie Nguyen
Son Hai and Huynh Tan Tai will be eligible to play in the national
premier league in the next three years.

He added the teenagers need more practise with the national team in order to improve their skills tactically and mentally.

The team received a cash-bonus of 330 million VND (17,000 USD) from
the Vietnam Football Federation and sponsors at an awards ceremony in
Hanoi on October 5.

"The team's success was a sign
of the progress of Vietnam 's youth training programme. We are proud
of our youngsters and their glorious victory for Vietnamese football,"
said deputy head of the National Sports Administration, Pham Van Tuan.

The U-16 team are currently in training at the Vietnam Football Federation's Youth Centre in Hanoi./.

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