Ha Noi set for inaugural lawn bowling tourney

The first Ha Noi Lawn Bowling Open will start from tomorrow to Sunday at Ha Noi-based My Dinh Sports Centre.

The event will attract six clubs from Ha Noi, Gia Lai, Phu Tho and Quang Ninh.

Viet Nam is the sixth country to develop the event in Southeast Asia. Vietnamese Ha Kha Luan, chairman of the Ha Noi Club, is the first deputy chairman of Southeast Asian Lawn Bowling Federation.

Lawn Bowling will soon get under way in HCM City, Nha Trang, Kien Giang and Nam Dinh to develop a strong force in preparation for international events such as the World Lawn Bowling Championship and Asian Beach Games.

Vietnamese archers take silvers at Asian Grand Prix

Archer Nguyen Tien Cuong took a silver medal at the three-stringed bow event, or compound, in the first round of the Asian Archery Grand Prix in Thailand on Tuesday.

Cuong defeated many strong rivals and was only defeated by former Chinese Atlanta Olympics and Sydney Olympics champion Tang Hua.

The gold medallist in the same event in 2008, Cuong and his team-mates also pocketed a silver medal at the men's team event.

Vietnamese archers will continue to compete in the second round in Vientiane in Laos on April 21-27 and the third round in Dakha, Bangladesh, on May 25-31.

Asian football's honcho to visit Viet Nam on Sunday

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chairman Mohamed Bin Hammam will pay a visit to Viet Nam on Sunday.

He will attend the HCM City League tournament as part of the Vision Viet Nam-Vision Asia programme organised by the AFC.

This programme was developed in Viet Nam in 2004. It was implemented successfully in Long An and HCM City.

An AFC Vision Asia team will visit Hue at the end of February to assess the suitability of the Vietnamese city for the implementation of the Vision Asia development programme. — VNS

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Vietnam yet to hand out cash awards to Asiad winners

Truong Thanh Hang wins silver medal at the women's 1,500m race at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2010

Until February 10, some Vietnamese athletes bagging medals at the ASIAD 16 in China in November last year have yet received any cash awards promised previously by the government.

Wrestlers and Wushu martial artists were handed rewards before Tet but track-and-field athletes like Vu Van Huyen, Truong Thanh Hang, Vu Thi Huong, and some others have received nothing by now.

“It’s the first time I have won the Asiad silver medal with a cash prize of VND25 million ($1,280). I was eager to receive it before Tet to support my family and enjoy a joyful Tet holidays but…,” an athlete, who wants to be anonymous, spoke to Tuoi Tre.

“Except my monthly salary of VND1 million, I get nothing.”

“We have set up an emergency budget worth around VND21 billion to award high-profile athletes,” said Nguyen Thi Kim Mai – deputy director of the Vietnam National Sports Committtee.

But this Asiad saw more medal winners than in the previous games, so the budget still falls short of around VND 4 million, she added.

“The rest of the athletes are expected to receive reward money from now to the end of this month,” she promised.

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Grandmaster wins silver in Asian Games chess debut

Checkmate: IGM Le Quang Liem wins a silver in the men's individual event for Viet Nam in Guangzhou. — VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI — International grand master Le Quang Liem won a silver medal of the Asian Games' men's individual yesterday in Guangzhou.

Liem pocketed 7.5 points after nine games, level with eventual gold-medal winner Kasimdzhanov Rustam of Uzbekistan. Liem lost out as he had been defeated by Rustam in their match on Monday.

It is the first time chess is an official sport of ASIAD.

Wushu martial artist Nguyen Thanh Tung bagged a silver - the third for at the Games yesterday.

Tung scored 18.32 points with a combined performance of taijijan and taijiquan, finishing second behind his powerful Chinese rival.

Tung said he couldn't believe he had actually won the silver until he was standing on the podium.

"It is the first time I have taken part in such a big tournament," said Tung.

"As a freshman here, I am not thinking of winning a medal. I told myself that it is not a competition but a performance and all the other people are spectators who are admiring it."

Head coach Nguyen Phuong Lan said the silver medal was a big surprise, as he was only 18 years old and defeated much more experienced rivals.

"But in taolu (performance), athletes' nerves are very important," said the coach. "Tung is inexperienced but he can deal with pressure. He feels free to perform and he succeeds."

Vietnamese wushu sanshou athletes are expected to win a gold medal today as three have booked berths in the final matches.

Nguyen Thi Bich who defeated Iran's Mansoryansamiroumi Elaheh 9-1 in the women's 52kg category yesterday will fight against host E Meidie.

Her male teammates Phan Van Hau will compete China's Li Xinjie in the 56kg class while Nguyen Van Tuan will play Zhang Junyong, another Chinese, in the 65kg pool.

The nine-man Viet Nam Olympic football team, that qualified for the second round in their first appearance at the Asian Games, lost to a powerful North Korea 2-0 in the knock-out round at Yuexiu Stadium.

Later, Viet Nam's women footballers lost to China 0-1 in the last minutes during the premilinary round.

It was the second defeat for the Southeast Asian Games champions, who are set to play Jordan in the last group round match tomorrow. — VNS

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Chess player wins world silver

Young master Nguyen Thi Mai Hung brought home a silver medal from the
World Youth Chess Championships in Helkidiki , Greece .

The Bac Giang-born girl finished second in the girl's U16 category with
8.5 points after 11 matches, finishing level with gold medal winner
Nastassia Ziaziukina of Belarus , but losing out on sub-criteria.

The bronze went to Lisa Schut of the Netherlands .

Hung also pocketed an individual gold and a team silver medal at the
Asian Youth Chess Championships held in China in July.

Her senior, Hoang Thi Nhu Y, added a bronze for Vietnam in the
girl's U18 category. Y had a slow start to the competition but came
through strongly in the latter half of the tournament to finish on eight
points.

The gold and silver medals went to Kazimova Marmin Nizami of Azerbaijan and Cori Deysi of Peru respectively.

In the boy's competition , former world U8 champion Tran Minh Thang
finished 25th in the U10 pool and his brother could only manage 11th in
the U14 class./.

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Karate girl takes golden brace ahead of ASIAD

World karate champion Nguyen Hoang Ngan won two gold medals at the fifth International Istanbul Open Karate Tournament.

The annual three-day event which attracted 850 participants from 35 countries wrapped up on September 19.

Ngan, 26, performed with impressive skills in the individual female kata (performance) event to secure a gold.

The Hanoian artist defeated the host athlete Kubra Akarsu 5-0 in the final match.

Akarsu took the silver medal, while Mohsa Afsone of Iran and Do Thi Thu Ha of Vietnam shared the bronze medal.

Ngan along with teammates Thu Ha and Nguyen Thu Hang triumphed in the senior team kata event.

This was the second time the trio won a gold medal. The team won their
first gold at the 25th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos last
December.

The 26-year-old is a favourite to win a
gold medal at the coming 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) that will be held in
Guangzhou, China on November 11-27.

She will compete at the world championships in Belgrade, Serbia later this month to prepare for ASIAD.

At the Asian Karate Championships in China last year, Ngan bagged a
silver medal. Two years ago, she also clinched the champion in the World
Karate Championships in Tokyo, Japan./.

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Chess players hunt for medals

Vietnam is expecting to win a silver medal in the women's Chinese
chess (xiangqi) at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou, China, in November, said coach Hoang Dinh Hong.

Hong also hopes the men will take home at least a bronze medal.

Eleven chess masters have been undergoing intensive training in HCM
City for the tournament, which includes Chinese chess for the first
time – since early May. They have been competing with teams from Dong
Thap and Khanh Hoa provinces.

Their final test will be at the National Sports Meet in Da Nang city next month.

National senior master Ngo Lan Huong, who is the Asian Indoor Games
defending champion, is favourite to take the Asian Games' women's berth.

Masters Nguyen Thanh Bao, Lai Ly Huynh, Trenh A Sang and Nguyen Hoang Lam will be vying for the two slots in the men's team.

"This year ASIAD only features women's and men's individual events.
Unfortunately, that puts Vietnam at a disadvantage because we have
the strongest team in the world," Hong said.

At this year's ASIAD, Viet Nam 's main rival will be China .

"Our difficulty is not the quality of our players but their lack of
competition experience. Chinese players regularly attend at least 10
events a year, while our players attend just a handful," the team coach
said.

Lan Huong's chief rivals will be Wang Lin Na, the China national champion, and Yang Dan.

Hong said that despite their youth, the two Chinese masters are more
talented than former world champion Yu Yungquin, also from China ,
whom Lan Huong has met several times.

Kao Yiping, from Chinese Taipei, is also a major threat. She took the silver medal at the Asian championship.

On the men's side, chief rivals will be China 's national champion Hsu
Yinchuan and Hsiang Chuan, who has the highest elo rating; Wu Kueilin
of Chinese Taipei, who came fifth at the world championship; and
Singapore 's Wo Zonghan, the world No 6./.

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Vietnam loses to Britain in Youth Olympics Taekwondo final

HCMC – The Vietnamese team won a silver medal at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games on Tuesday as Nguyen Thanh Thao was defeated by UK rival, Jade Jones in the finals of the taekwondo event.

Jones Jade brought home Britain’s first youth Olympic’s gold medal when she beat the Vietnamese athlete 9-6 in the women’s 55kg weight category.

Thao, who earned her ticket after winning a bronze medal at the Games’ qualifying round held in Mexico in March, was successful against Abdul Rahman, an outstanding Singaporean athlete, 9-8 to reach the final.

Gold medalist Jones had also defeated defending champion Monica Chavez from Mexico and the runner-up Jennifer Agren from Sweden.

Earlier, weightlifter Thach Kim Tuan clinched the first gold medal for Vietnam in the men’s 56kg weight category on the first day of competition on Sunday. Nguyen Quoc Cuong also took home the bronze medal in the men’s 55kg taekwondo category on Monday.

After four days of competition, China are first in the overall medal tally with 10 gold medals, four silver medals and two bronze medals, followed by Russia with nine golds, nine silvers and three bronzes. Third-placed South Korea grasped five golds, one silver and one bronze. Vietnam is 21st with one gold, one silver and one bronze, behind archrivals Thailand, who secured one gold and three silvers.

The Vietnamese sports delegation to the Games has 13 athletes in the seven events of taekwondo, weightlifting, badminton, wrestling, shooting, swimming and track-and-field.

Vietnam’s earlier achievements at the Olympics was a silver medal from the women’s taekwondo through Tran Hieu Ngan at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games while Hoang Anh Tuan won silver in the men’s weightlifting competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The Games, which are taking place form August 14 to 26 in Singapore, feature some 3,500 athletes, aged from 14-18, and officials from the 204 National Olympic Committees, competing in 26 sports for 184 sets of medals.

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Lifter wins nation’s first gold at Youth Olympics

Weightlifter Thach Kim Tuan won the gold medal in the boys’ 56kg category as the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore opened on Sunday.

The 16-year-old lifted a total of 256kg, handily beating Chinese silver medalist Xie Jiawu and Armenian bronze medalist Smbat Margaryan by 2kg with 13kg respectively.

Tuan came to Singapore with a lot of hopes pinned on him after he won gold at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship in Dubai in December 2009.

At the Youth Olympic Games, Tuan faced stiff competition from his Chinese and Armenian rivals with the latter already a silver medal winner at the European Youth championship.

In the snatch category, Tuan lifted 116kg while Jiawu lifted 117kg and Margaryan lifted 108kg.

In the clean and jerk category, the Armenian lifted 135kg in his first attempt while Tuan and the Chinese contestant lifted 134kg and 132kg respectively.

Then, Jiawu lifted 137kg while Tuan and Margaryan failed with 139kg and 149kg respectively.

In the deciding round, Tuan succeeded in lifting 140kg, while Jiawu and Margaryan failed at 140kg and 149kg respectively.

On the opening day of the August 14-26 event, Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Hong finished fourth in the 48kg category for women with a total weight of 151kg.

Hong’s result was three kilos less than Venezuelan bronze winner Rodriguez, 12kg less than Thai silver winner and 39kg shy of the Chinese gold winner.

Vietnam’s further medal hopes are pinned on taekwondo artist Nguyen Thanh Thao.

Vietnam’s previous best results at the Olympic Games have been a silver medal won by taekwondo martial artist Tran Hieu Ngan at Sydney in 2000; and a weightlifting silver won by Hoang Anh Tuan at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

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