Female ref to attend London Olympics

Two female Vietnamese referees have been assigned by FIFA to officiate in the preliminary round of football for the London Olympics, the Viet Nam Football Federation announced yesterday.

Mai Hoang Trang of HCM City and assistant Kieu Thi Thuy of Ha Noi will be in charge of the women's qualifiers next year.

Trang and Thuy were approved by FIFA in 2007.

Viet Nam has three FIFA accredited female referees and two assistants.

Last year, FIFA also called up four male referees – Vo Minh Tri, Phung Dinh Dung, Nguyen Ngoc Ha and Nguyen Hoang Minh – to officiate over two men's qualifiers.

The federation has also submitted Vo Quang Vinh of Khanh Hoa and Hoang Anh Tuan from Ha Noi to FIFA for approval this year.

FIFA regulations state that member countries should nominate 20 men as qualified referees or linesmen each year, but Viet Nam presently lacks qualified personnel.

After match fixing scandals rocked the nation in 2007, around 40 referees and officials were suspended pending a police investigation.

Volleyball Federation to get new head

The Volleyball Federation of Viet Nam (VFV) will appoint a new general secretary for the next five-year term, the federation announced at a recent press conference.

Current VFV general secretary, Tran Duc Phan who was assigned as head of the national sports administration's elite sport department last year, decided to withdraw from the federation after an executive board meeting last week.

At the meeting, the VFV also agreed to hire a foreign coach for the men's national team, and host the Asian Women's Clubs Championship on May 15-25.

Volleyball was the second sport, after football, to become professionalised four years ago.

Thien anticipates Auckland progress

Teenager Nguyen Hoang Thien will compete in the Auckland 18 and Under ITF Summer Championship from January 31 to February 5.

Thien, 16, who became the first ever Vietnamese player at the Australian Open Junior Championship last week, will spend Tet (Lunar New Year) in New Zealand in preparation for the event.

The HCM City boy, who has gained 40 singles wins, is hopeful of reaching the International Tennis Federation's top 100 junior ranking within the next two years.

He moved up 10 places from 232nd to 222nd in the ITF's ranking this month. — VNS

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Masters set for showdown

Vietnamese masters will take part in the first Southeast Asian Individual Chess Championship in Singapore next week.

The tournament will be held every two years by the Southeast Asian Chess Federation with a view of developing the regional chess movement.

Eight or nine delegations will join this debut event, which is also an opportunity for players to warm up ahead of the next December's SEA Games in Indonesia.

General Secretary of the Viet Nam Chess Federation Dang Tat Thang said Viet Nam would participate in both men's and women's categories.

After the championship, the Vietnamese players will enjoy a short break before being summoned in early 2011 to a range of international tournaments.

Seminar spotlights VN taekwondo

How to boost the capacity of Vietnamese taekwondo athletes and improve Viet Nam-South Korea co-operation in this martial art topped the agenda of a seminar in Ha Noi on Saturday.

The seminar was co-organised by the Viet Nam Taekwondo Federation (VTF), the South Korean Cultural Centre and the South Korean Taekwondo Instructors Association (RTIA) in Viet Nam.

Head of RTIA in Viet Nam Kim Jung-sik said the athletes' rapid adaptability to scientific devices and modern technology plays an important role in achieving success, as they help them to achieve high results in international and regional competitions.

This is a lesson the Korea has drawn from its failures at ASIAD 16, especially after one of the country's athletes lost to his Iranian rival because he had yet to adapt to changes in the electronic breastplates.

VTF General Secretary Truong Ngoc De said Viet Nam needed to build effective competition methods and improve the quality of athlete selection if it wanted to regain its top regional position and win gold medals in ASIAD and the London Olympics in 2012.
Taekwondo has developed strongly in Viet Nam in recent years, with more than 40,000 athletes training across the country.

Japanese perform martial arts

The Japanese Embassy, in co-ordination with the Aikido Yukishudokan and Kendo Ha Noi Clubs, held an Aikido and Kendo performance in the capital on Saturday.

Speaking at the event, Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Yasuaki Tanizaki said that Aikido and Kendo were Japan's two traditional martial arts which represent the unique cultural identity of people from the country of cherry blossoms.

He expressed his wish that the performance would help Vietnamese people, especially young people, understand more about the Japanese culture, and strengthen the friendship and mutual understanding between the two nations.

Formed 1,200 years ago, Kendo uses bamboo sticks to attack with the aim of strengthening physical and spiritual health as well as improving concentration in study and work. — VNS

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New European Vovinam Federation ready for battle

The European Vovinam Federation was established on Oct. 16 at the
conclusion of a congress at the French Karate Federation.

Twenty-six delegates from Belgium , Germany , Italy , England ,
Rumania , Switzerland , Denmark , Spain , and France attended the
congress. Poland and Belarus were absent but nominated Germany
as their proxy.

An executive board comprising seven
members was elected. Francis Didier, the head of the French federation,
was named the president while Masters Juan Cid of Spain , Tran Dai
Chieu of Germany, and Florin Macovei of Rumania were chosen vice
presidents.

Master Victtorio Cera of Italy is the
general secretary and Thanh Nha Berrier of England , the deputy
general secretary.

EVVF will organise technical and
referee classes as well as the first European Vovinam Championship in
the Tenerife Islands in Spain next month.

Milan (early 2012), Paris (2013), and Bucharest (2014) will host the next championships.

France will organise the third World Vovinam Championship in July 2013.

HCM City will host the previous edition in July next year.

The martial art was founded in 1938 in Hanoi by late Grand Master Nguyen Loc.

It is practised in 40 countries and has more than 100,000
practitioners. It is popular in France , Italy and the US .

The traditional Vietnamese martial art will feature at the 26th
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games 2011 in Indonesia as a competitive sport
for the first time, according to the SEA Sports Council.

Vovinam's inclusion in the games will help promote the sport, which
has gained recognition internationally in recent years, especially after
the success of the first WVVF World Vovinam Championship in HCM
City and the third Asian Indoor Games last year./.

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Epic race across VN set for Ha Noi's anniversary

HA NOI — Cyclists will contest a 17-day trans-Viet Nam race for the 1,000th anniversary of Ha Noi, the Viet Nam Cycling Federation said yesterday.

The 14-stage 1,500km race from HCM City to Ha Noi would begin on September 23 and end on October 9. The last time-trial stage will be held at Hoan Kiem Lake to celebrate the millennium of city and the 56th anniversary of Ha Noi's liberation day on October 10th.

"It's the biggest race of the year as country eye on the great celebration of Ha Noi. We have invited foreign riders to compete in the event, which is a good opportunity for Vietnamese athletes horning their skills," said the Federation's general secretary Doan Kim Phach.

"Malaysia team have agreed to take part in the event and we expect more powerhouses are also eager to join a tough race," he said.

The general secretary also added the race will see around 100 athletes from 13 teams of Viet Nam and foreign squads of South Korea, Mongolia and the Philippines.

"We hope to make the race successfully in the occasion of big festivals to be held in the city," Phach said.

The race organising committee will offer special awards to the overall yellow jersey (the best time rider); green jersey for the best stage finish athlete; the red jersey for the ‘King of Mountain' and white jersey, for the best young cyclist. — VNS

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Players prepare for Olympiad in Russia

HA NOI — Viet Nam's best chess players are ready for the Chess Olympiad 2010 in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia from September 19 to October 4, reported Viet Nam Chess Federation general secretary Dang Tat Thang yesterday.

The competitors include International Grand Masters Le Quang Liem, who finished second at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund, last month, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Dao Thien Hai, Nguyen Anh Dung, Nguyen Duc Hoa, and the women Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Hoang Thi Nhu Y, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, Nguyen Thi Thanh An and Pham Le Thao Nguyen.

"The team includes both veterans and youth," said the general secretary. "It will give the young the chance to gain experience and skills.

"The team's aim is to finish in the top 20 of the more than 160 countries taking part in the tournament."

The tournament will also be an opportunity for the Vietnamese players to test themselves against such Asian rivals as China, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Qatar and the Philippines in preparation for the Asian Games in China in November.

It is the 39th edition of the Olympiad and follows the Dresden Chess Olympiad 2008 and precedes the Chess Olympiad 2012 in Turkey.

Viet Nam sent four players, Liem, Son, Hai and Nguyen Van Huy, to Dresden where they finished ninth ahead of such countries as India, Germany, Bulgaria and England.

The German Chess Federation sent six of its best players to contest friendly tournaments in Viet Nam during April. — VNS

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