Liem eager to play for German team

HA NOI — International Grand Master (IGM) Le Quang Liem has agreed to compete for Germany's Bremen chess club from next month, Liem's father Le Quynh confirmed yesterday.

Liem, 20, will leave for Germany for March 18-19 following the signing of a two-month contract with the Bremen club, allowing Liem to compete in the German Chess tournament.

The HCM City-born grandmaster will receive payment from US$700-1,400 for each game he plays, excluding win bonuses, accommodation and air tickets.

"Liem was offered a contract by a Spanish chess club after he won the Russian International Chess Festival – Aeroflot Open in Moscow last week, but he previously signed with Bremen and French team Evry Grand Roque. Chinese Qingdao Yucai also invited Liem to play in the China's Chess League Division A, however, the agreement has yet to finalised," Quynh told Viet Nam News yesterday.

As the German Chess tournament is played monthly, the HCM City's player can travel forth and back between Viet Nam and Germany according to the German fixtures.

The 20-year-old will also play for the Evry Grand Roque Club in the French Chess League Top 16 this June when athletes will finish their match in a nine-game format over two weeks.

The International Grand Master is the first player to win the Aeroflot Open twice in a row, which has earned him an elo rate of 2,689 in March's World Chess Federation (FIDE) rankings and a place in the world top 50.

"It's not the first time a Vietnamese player has competed abroad. Over the past years, Vietnamese players have played for Chinese teams on short-term contracts," said the Viet Nam Chess Federation (VCF)'s vice chairman and general secretary Dang Tat Thang.

"A clutch of top athletes including Le Thanh Tu, Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Dao Thien Hai and Pham Le Thao Nguyen have played for Chinese teams. They both improved their skills and income from competitions abroad," Thang said.

He also added the federation always gave the green light to chess players wanting to compete for foreign clubs.

Liem was conferred the International Grand Master title following the Chess Olympiad in Turin in 2006.

The IGM said he had to overcome the pressure of his new found success to improve his world rankings at international tournaments this year.

Liem, who is a first year student at the Finance and Bank faculty of HCM City University, has to arrange time between his college studies and competitions.

Last year, Liem grabbed a silver medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. — VNS

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Windsurfers gear up in Mui Ne

HCM CITY — Nearly 50 windsurfers from 12 countries will take part in the 12th Fun Cup windsurfing competition tomorrow at Mui Ne in the central coastal province of Binh Thuan.

The athletes are from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, the US and host Viet Nam.

They will be divided into men's and women's divisions.

Windsurfers will sail in a figure-eight-shaped course with a distance of 2,400m for female athletes and 3,200m for males.

The Fun Cup is an annual slalom windsurfing race that has been organised by Jibe's Beach Club since 2001. Last year, Cyril Moussilmani took top prize, American Jimmy Diaz came in second and Chris Pressler of Austria finished third.

A week after Fun Cup, the world windsurfing tournament called The 2011 Vietnam PWA Grand Slam will be organised from February 25 to March 5 in the same venue.

According to the organisers, there are 12 officials from PWA, 116 professional windsurfers (20 females) and 12 international journalists from many countries and territories registered to attend the event.

The competition includes two disciplines: slalom with a figure-eight course and freestyle and judged by PWA officials.

The Viet Nam Grand Slam is the first of four Grand Slams annually staged by Professional Windsurfers Association around the world.

Three other tournaments organised later are the 2011 Aruba Hi Winds Grand Slam in Aruba June 19-26, the 2011 Sotavento Fuerteventura from July 22-August 1, and the 2011 Sylt Super Grand Slam in Germany. — VNS

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Federer fireworks warm up Melbourne Park

Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return to Lukas Lacko of Slovakia during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 17, 2011

Photo: Reuters

Roger Federer fired up the Australian Open with a blistering start to his title defense on Monday, bringing some welcome warmth to an unseasonably cool Melbourne Park on opening day.

The first grand slam tournament of the year is famous for its searing heat but a blustery day with the occasional shower had the sweatshirt replacing the T-shirt as the garment of choice among much of the 15,000 crowd on the Rod Laver Arena.

Federer retained his trademark bandana even though the ease of his 6-1 6-1 6-3 victory over Slovakian Lukas Lacko and the cool afternoon air made the threat of sweat interfering with his vision slight.

"I thought I played great," the four-times Australian Open champion and second seed told reporters. "Tried to play offensive from the start and see where it takes me. It didn't work. I got back and played a bit more risky and so forth.

"I thought it was a good match. I don't think he played too bad himself. I saw some talent in him too and that's why I think I was really happy I chose that tactics early on to pressure him."

Federer taking risks meant a treat for the crowd, who witnessed some brilliant shot-making from the 16-times grand slam champion.

It was hard to believe that the Swiss maestro's backhand was once considered a weakness in his game as he stroked impossible looking winners off it from the back of the court to set up a second round meeting with Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Rafa Nadal's quest to become the first man since 1969 to hold all four grand slam titles simultaneously starts on Tuesday but this was an emphatic reminder that to do it, the Spaniard is likely to have to beat Federer at the top of his game.

Novak Djokovic is one of the few men to have broken the Federer-Nadal grand slam duopoly in the last few years and he gave notice that he considers himself a contender with a dominant 6-1 6-3 6-1 thrashing of Spain's Marcel Granollers.

"Of course, all the credit to Rafa and Roger. They are deservedly the two biggest favorites to win this tournament. They're the two best players in the world," said the third seed, who won his only grand slam title here in 2008.

"Definitely this performance gives me more confidence and gives me enough reason to think that I can beat anyone."

Venus Williams, the women's fourth seed, was equally dominant as she made a winning return after four months out injured with a 6-3 6-2 win over Sara Errani of Italy.

"It's been so long," said the 30-year-old, who is hoping to add a first Australian Open crown to her seven grand slam titles.

"It definitely felt good today to go out there and play pretty clean tennis."

Flying solo

Venus is flying the family flag solo this year with her sister Serena, the 2010 champion, still unable to play after stepping on glass in a Munich restaurant last year.

Justine Henin, the losing finalist when Serena claimed her fifth title here last year, survived a tricky opening encounter against big-hitting Indian Sania Mirza to go through 5-7 6-3 6-1 despite 33 unforced errors.

Two other women hoping to contend, top seed Caroline Wozniacki and former champion Maria Sharapova, won the first two matches on centre court.

 

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark returns a shot against Gisela Dulko of Argentina during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 17, 2011

Dane Wozniacki claimed a hard-fought 6-3 6-4 win over Argentine Gisela Dulko, while Sharapova overcame a nervy start to beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1 6-3 for her first Australian Open victory since she won her last major title here in 2008.

"Last year I played first match on centre (court) and, I lost. So I was kind of like, I don't want this to happen again this year," said Sharapova, who lost to fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko in the first round last year.

American 18th seed Sam Querrey was the first seeded player to fall and he took his time doing it, losing 5-7 6-2 3-6 6-1 8-6 to Pole Lukasz Kubot over three hours and 20 minutes.

Russian 23rd seed Nikolay Davydenko, three-times a quarter-finalist here, also made an early departure with a 6-3 4-6 7-6 6-4 defeat at the hands of German Florian Mayer.

Andy Roddick gave a forceful reminder that he once won a grand slam -- albeit at the US Open in 2003 -- with a 6-1 6-2 6-2 rout of Czech Jan Hajek, firing down 18 aces but bemoaning the conditions.

"It was playing slow, so you had to kind of adjust," said the American eighth seed. "It wasn't hitting and jumping like it normally would here, and I think that's probably just the colder conditions."

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Grand masters to battle in France

Two International Grand Masters (IGM) Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc
Truong Son will compete in the Cap D'Agde Rapid Chess tournament in
France from October 23-31.

The two top Vietnamese
grand masters will test their skills against formidable opponents,
including Russian giant Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Ivanchuk from Ukraine, Bu
Xiangzhi from China and Judith Polgar from Hungary.

Liem and Son will use the event as a warm up for the Asian Games in Guangzhou , China next month.

Liem, 19, has been in top form since finishing second at the
Sparkassen Chess Meeting that was held in Dortmund , Germany in
July.

He also won the Moscow Open in February.

Last year, the HCM City-born player broke into the world's top 20 FIDE
rankings, and was the only Vietnamese player to make the list of
leading male chess masters.

However, Son and Liem performed poorly at the Chess Olympiad last month.

Son, who became a Grand Master in March 1997 when he was 14 years old,
will face China 's Bu Xiangzhi, an arch rival, in the Cap D'Agde
tourney.

The match will be held next Friday.

After the tournament, the two top players will have a 10-day break before flying to Guangzhou for the Asian Games./.

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Players keep the faith despite Roger-Rafa dominance

Roger Federer, who has won 16 Grand Slams over the past year, as he and Rafael Nadal dominate men's tennis

Photo: AFP

The Nadal-Federer era has seen slim pickings for the rest of men's tennis when it comes to Grand Slams but the chasing pack say the margins remain small as they battle to break the duopoly.

In an unprecedented streak, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have won 25 of the past 30 majors -- setting a blistering pace that the rest of men's tennis has failed to match.

The Swiss maestro has won 16 Grand Slams, a record for the men's game, with Spain's world number one Nadal now on nine majors after a stellar year in which he won the French Open for the fifth time, plus Wimbledon and the US Open.

But as the season enters its final stretch with the race to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London hotting up, the top men are trying to figure out ways to break the dominance.

"Everybody's trying to chase them as close as possible as we can," said world number seven Tomas Berdych, who shocked the tennis world when he dethroned six-time Wimbledon champion Federer in this year's quarter-finals.

The Czech player, who lost to Nadal in the final, insisted: "I think the gap is really small."

Berdych, speaking in Macau ahead of an exhibition tournament at the weekend, said despite the limited opportunities, he was grateful to be playing the game at the same time as two all-time greats.

"For me, it's a good time to be in this era that you can be competing against these two great players.

"Of course, you can see it from the other point of view that maybe if these two guys wouldn't be in the draw, in the tournament, then maybe it could be a bigger chance to win a Grand Slam."

Soderling, appearing alongside Berdych, Nikolay Davydenko and David Ferrer in Macau, has cause to rue the Rafa-Roger dominance, having been beaten in consecutive years by each player in the final of the French Open.

But the Swede, with a miserable 13-1 losing record against Federer, says men's tennis has strength in depth.

"In any tournament when Roger and Rafa are playing they will be the favourites but there's a lot of guys who can actually do well and compete and have a chance to win the bigger tournaments," he said.

"Maybe there's 10 or even 15 guys. The top is really, really tough. Anyone on a good day can beat anyone," added the world number five.

"You need to be ready for the first round. It's not easy but I wish it was a lot easier."

World number six Davydenko, who has a rare 5-4 winning record against Nadal, said men's tennis boasted great strength in depth, joking about his record against the Spaniard.

Spain's 11th-ranked Ferrer said: "I think now it's very difficult to win Grand Slams but I think it's a good time," also highlighting the threat posed by world number two Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray, ranked four.

Nadal, headlining this week's Thailand Open, became only the seventh man in history to achieve a career Grand Slam when he earned his first US Open title with victory over Djokovic in this month's final at Flushing Meadows.

But despite his phenomenal year, Soderling, top seed at this week's Malaysian Open, where his other three competitors in Macau are also playing, believes third-ranked Federer remains the yardstick.

"He's (Nadal) won so many Grand Slams already, so many titles but to me, Roger is still the best.

"But Rafa is still very young so if he's going to be healthy, he has a lot more years to play and he could definitely give it a shot.

"He has the chance to be known as the world's best player ever," added Soderling.

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Federer not planning to watch Open final

Number two seed Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a backhand to Andreas Beck of Germany during their US Open match in New York. Federer won 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

NEW YORK - Roger Federer will not be competing in the US Open men's final for the first time in seven years and he will not be watching it either

"I won't watch," Federer told reporters after his 5-7 6-1 5-7 6-2 7-5 semi-finals loss on Saturday to third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who will meet world number one Rafa Nadal of Spain for the championship.

"Look, I've been around tennis for weeks and weeks and weeks right now. Last thing I want to do is watch another tennis match where I'm not a part of," said Federer. "I will spend some time with my kids and take it easy, maybe go shopping."

Signs had pointed to a Federer-Nadal showdown in the U.S. Open final, with both players cruising through the draw.

The prospect was cause for excitement with Nadal aiming to complete a career grand slam and the Swiss master eager for a sixth U.S. crown after having his string of five straight snapped in last year's final.

Had Federer advanced, it would have been the first time two men's players would have faced each other in the finals of all four grand slam events.

Federer said he had not thought about facing Nadal at Flushing Meadows.

"I don't read too much press once the tournament starts," he said. "I can only try to imagine the excitement around the two of us maybe playing.

"I would have loved to play against him here. I mean, I did my hard yards the last six years making it to the finals, and he was unfortunately never there."

The 29-year-old Federer, winner of a record 16 grand slam titles who completed his own career grand slam last year when he won the French Open, said it hurt to lose the match to Djokovic, which he described as "electric" at the end.

"That's obviously disappointing," said the Swiss, who held two match points against the man he had eliminated at the last three U.S. Opens.

Missing out a chance at Nadal in the final was also letdown.

"Now one point away from this happening, obviously it's a bit of disappointment. But just being there and losing, that wouldn't have been nice either.

"Now we'll never know how it would have gone."

Second-seeded Federer said the 24-year-old Nadal having a chance to round out his grand slam resume of five French Opens, two Wimbledons and an Australian Open was "fantastic."

"It's great for tennis, and it's great for him at the young age he is to have that opportunity already. It's exciting for tennis that we're doing something very special in tennis at the same time."

Federer said he hoped to bounce back from his near-miss.

"It's a tough loss for me, but it's only going to fuel me with more motivation to practice hard and get back to grand slam finals," said Federer, who won this year's Australian Open but lost in the quarter-finals of the French and Wimbledon.

 

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Federer shows he is the man to beat again at US Open

Roger Federer of Switzerland holds up the championship trophy after defeating Mardy Fish of the US in their championship match at the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 22, 2010

Photo: Reuters

Roger Federer returned to winning ways on Sunday by claiming the Cincinnati Masters and announced himself once again as the man to beat at the US Open.

There had been talk of Federer being in decline after he went out at the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, part of a near seven-month streak where he has failed to win a tournament.

But the manner of his victory over American Mardy Fish in Ohio showed his opponent -- and plenty of other observers -- that the Swiss is the leading player in the best form heading into the Open.

The Swiss has an astonishing record at Flushing Meadows, having reached the last six finals and winning all but last year's loss to Juan Martin del Potro, and Fish believes Federer is a different beast when he turns up at the grand slams.

"He's just been there so many times,” Fish said. “Clearly he loves the US Open and his record is incredible in grand slams.”

“I feel like he's a different player even in grand slams as opposed to even Masters 1,000 tournaments," he added. "I think he realizes the importance -- when you speak about the best players ever, you speak about how many grand slams they've won.”

“I know that Mats Wilander won seven grand slams but I have no idea how many Masters series he won.”

Federer said the biggest obstacles he is likely to face in pursuit of a 17th major crown will come from familiar quarters -- Briton Andy Murray beat him in the Toronto final last week and Rafael Nadal is desperate to complete a career grand slam by hoisting the elusive US Open trophy.

"I guess the top four have the best shot again,” said Federer. “We can all play really well on the hard courts.”

“Murray has proven himself, so has (Novak) Djokovic on the hard courts and so has Rafa. He's won the Australian Open.”

"So I think it's gonna be an interesting US Open, many guys are playing well again,” he added. “Murray didn't win a tournament for a long time, and he's been able to win Toronto again.”

But there is no doubt who the 29-year-old Federer believes has the biggest chance of all -- himself -- and he is far from fazed by the rivals he faces.

"I'll always have new challenges coming up, I used to play against Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, and Carlos Moya, and Todd Martin and all those guys," he said. "Always been different challenges and rivals, that's not going to change.”

“I think every five years you'll have someone new, I think the next generation is probably already sort of knocking on the door."

 

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