Women prepare for Olympic qualifiers

HCM CITY — Viet Nam's women's football team will start its FIFA Women's Olympic Football Tournament 2012 qualifying campaign next month.

The Asian qualifiers that start in March have three phrases until September to determine the two teams that will represent Asia.

Viet Nam is in group A of the draw, which comprises Thailand, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and Myanmar.

Group A and seven other teams – India, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Iran, Palestine and Jordan – from groups B and C will take part in the inaugural phase of qualification that kicks off on March 8 and winds up on March 27.

Group A will play their matches in Chinese Taipei (Kaohsiung City) while Bangladesh (Dhaka) will host the Group B games. Jordan (Zerqa City) will play host to Group C.

The top two teams from Groups A and C and the winners of Group B (five teams) will advance to the second round of qualifiers, which is a one-round league format and takes place from June 3-12.

The winners of this qualification round will join Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Australia for the final qualification round that will take place from September 1-11. The six teams will play a one-round league format. The top two teams in the final round of qualifiers will represent Asia at the 2012 London Olympics.

Hosts for the second qualification round will come from among the participating teams while the final qualification round hosts will be decided between Australia North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and one potential participating member association. — VNS

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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’s Olympic footballers to pay in Asiad group B

Vietnamese football fans during a celebration march on Ho Chi Minh City streets in December, 2009

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The national Olympic football team of Vietnam will face stiff competition in group B with upper tier teams Iran, Bahrain and Turkmenistan at the 2010 Asian Games, which will be held from November 12-27 in Guangzhou, China.

Vietnam, now at the 125th place on the FIFA ranking table released last month, will take on Bahrain -- the world’s number 75 -- on November 8, said the organizer Monday.

The side will face Turkmenistan (129th) on November 10 and the 2006 Asiad third-placed Iran (ranked 57th) three days later.

The Asian Games’ men’s football division will have 24 teams competing in six groups with the top two teams of each group and four best third-placed teams -- based on goals scored -- qualifying for the last 16 round.

The women’s football event will have seven teams separated 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, Japan and defending champions North Korea are in group B.

China, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan and Japan were drawn in group A. Group C has South Korea, Palestine, Jordan and North Korea. Defending champion Qatar, Kuwait, India and Singapore are in group D.

Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Bangladesh are in group E and Thailand, Oman, Pakistan and Maldives in group F.

The 16th Asian Games, which is held every four years, feature 476 events in 42 sports.

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Semis loom at volleyball quest

Four top teams including defending champions Binh Dien Long An, PV Oil Thai Binh, the Military Signal Corps and Vietso Petro have qualified for the semi-finals of the women's National All-Star Volleyball Championship.

In the men's competition, Hoang Long Long An and the Border Guards also sailed through to the semis to join Trang An Ninh Binh and The Cong.

The bottom four teams in both competitions will compete in a round-robin for their premier league survival.

The championship has drawn 12 teams in both the men and women's events who have been battling it out in two groups of six.

The semi-finals will be held in Hai Duong and Ninh Binh from Saturday.

Teen tennis star marches on

HCM City-born Nguyen Hoang Thien beat Sweden's Solberg Christoffer 7-6, 6-1 in the quarters-finals of the Viet Nam International Junior Championship yesterday in the southern province of Binh Duong.

Thien, the top seed, fought hard to take the first set on a tie-break from the sixth seed Swede but wasted no time in cruising to a 6-1 second set victory.

He meets Han Sung-min of South Korea in the semi-final today.

The tournament was recognised as an annual junior tournament by the International Tennis Federation in 2008.

Viet Nam go down to Kuwait

Viet Nam's national football team suffered their second loss in a week after a 3-1 defeat to Kuwait in a friendly match at Jaber Al-Ahmad Stadium on Tuesday.

In last year's corresponding fixture, Viet Nam won 1-0.

The team also lost 3-1 to India in a friendly in Pune last Friday.

Viet Nam will clash with South Korea's U-23s, Singapore and North Korea in the VFF SONHA Cup at My Dinh National Stadium on November 2-6.

Ha Noi fan club wins vote

Ha Noi T&T's fan club has been voted as the best supporters group in the V-League, the Viet Nam Football Federation has announced.

The fan club, which was only started last year, won 14 votes to earn 38 points, edging Da Nang and Dong Thap.

Ha Noi T&T triumphed in the V-League for the first time last season.

Last year, Da Nang's fans won the title. — VNS

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Vietnam on steady down spiral at World Chess Olympiad

Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The Vietnamese men’s chess team kept on a steady downward slope at the World Chess Olympiad wrapping up its final and eleventh round Sunday to rank 52nd on the final standing table, after a misleading good start in Russia.

At the last round in Khanty-Mansiysk, Vietnam -- the seed No 27 -- was upset 1.5-2.5 by 38th ranked Iran.

Dao Thien Hai (Elo rating of 2,520) was the only one to lose against Asghar Golizadeh (2,481) while his three compatriots Le Quang Liem (2,694), Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2,633) and Nguyen Anh Dung (2,500) tied with Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (2,594), Elshan Moradiabadi (2,578) and Homayoon Toufighi (2,499) respectively.

Vietnam had climbed to third place after winning all four opening rounds before losing the next two to drop to 22nd out of 148 teams.

The team kept downgrading to the 33th place after the tenth round despite not losing any more. Vietnam held Germany, Greece, Kazakhstan and Montenegro to draws in the seventh to the tenth rounds.

Ukraine took the lead after 11 rounds to crown the championship title. Russia 1, Israel, Hungary and China followed in the top five standings. Russia entered five teams in the competitions.

At the last Olympiad in Germany in 2008, Vietnam had finished ninth out of 154 teams.

In the women’s section, Vietnam, the seed No 24, ranked 18th out of 114 teams, with seven wins and four losses.

Russia 1, China, Georgia, Cuba and the US were the top five in the women’s division.

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Vietnam plunge to 33th at Chess Olympiad

Dao Thien Hai

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The Vietnamese men’s team have slumped to 33th place in the standings at the Chess Olympiad in Russia despite not losing any of their last four rounds.

The No 27 seeds were held to a 2-2 draw in the tenth round Friday by 56th ranked Montenegro.

All four players Dao Thien Hai (Elo rating 2,520), Le Quang Liem (2,694), Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2,633) and Nguyen Duc Hoa (2,385) produced ties with Dragisa Blagojevic (2,481), Nikola Djukic (2,475), Milan Drasko (2,486) and Blazo Kalezic (2,449).

In the ninth round Thursday, Vietnam had been held to a 2-2 draw by 41st ranked Kazakhstan. Hai beat Anuar Ismagambetov (2,492) but Son lost to Rinat Jumabayev (2,547). Liem and Nguyen Anh Dung (2,500) tied with Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2,620) and Kirill Kuderinov (2,481).

Earlier Vietnam had also held Greece, the No 25 seeds, and 42nd ranked Germany to draws in the seventh and eighth rounds.

The team had climbed to third place after winning all four opening rounds before losing the next two to drop to 22nd out of 148 teams.

Ukraine are top of the table with 29 points, followed by Russia 1, Israel, Poland, and Hungary. Russia have five teams in the tournament.

At the last Olympiad in Germany in 2008, Vietnam had finished ninth out of 154 teams.

In the women’s section, Vietnam, the seed No 24, are in 12th place out of 114 teams, with seven wins and three losses.

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VN expect tournament triumph

HCM CITY — Viet Nam are hopeful of winning an international under-23 football tournament that begins in HCM City today to commemorate Ha Noi's millennium.

"We have been training for three weeks [for] the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, next November," Nguyen Van Sy, assistant coach of the team, told a conference yesterday.

"Although this is an invitational tournament, it is very important for us in the build-up to the Asian Games. Moreover, we will try our best to win the trophy to celebrate the millennium of Ha Noi."

Iran will play Singapore in the opening game at 3.45pm today and it will be followed by the much-awaited match between Viet Nam and Malaysia, who edged Viet Nam in the 25th SEA Games final last December.

Viet Nam have eight players from that line-up which lost by one goal. Malaysia have made seven changes.

Viet Nam, with three players aged above 23, including striker Nguyen Anh Duc and goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong, like some of the other teams, are the better team on paper, but Sy rates Malaysia highly under the coach K. Rajagopal.

"We gathered only on September 21," Rajagopal said.

"Winning the SEA Games title was in the past and we are looking forward. We do not have any goals and will just go out there and play our best."

Iran, the only team from West Asia, are the youngest in the fray but have an advantage over the other teams in terms of height and physical strength.

"We have limited knowledge of the participating teams but the tournament will give us a good opportunity to acquaint ourselves with East Asian teams," Hamzeh Khosro, a member of the Iranian coaching staff, said.

"All the players are under 21. We will do our best and hope to have a good tournament."

Singapore have also made eight changes from the team that played at the SEA Games, including the drafting of two players aged above 23.

"Because the S-League is still in progress, we had some difficulty getting players," Singapore's assistant coach, Sundram Smoorthy, said.

"But we are happy to play good teams here and to see how our players perform."

The teams are allowed to field six substitutes in a match against the normal two.

The final will be played on October 2 at the Thong Nhat Stadium. The champions will walk away with a cash prize of US$20,000, the runner-up will get $10,000, and the third-placed team, $5,000. — VNS

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Businessman nominated as city football chief

Dang Thanh Tam

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Dang Thanh Tam, chairman of the Saigon Invest Group, was Tuesday nominated as chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation and he will face a vote at an upcoming congress.

He will replace Le Hung Dung, who announced to step down earlier this month following charges that his federation was responsible for city teams’ poor performances in the national leagues this year.

The HFF will convene a congress soon to officially elect the new chief.

Two city teams, Navibank Saigon and the HCMC Football Club, turned in lackluster performances in the league that wrapped up last month, both narrowly escaping relegation.

Dung went reluctantly, arguing the HFF’s tasks are only to develop grassroots football and make rules to ensure fair competition.

“It is illogical to place all the responsibility for local teams’ failure on the HFF,” he said.

The Saigon Invest Group has interests in several industries like tourism, education, real estate and infrastructure development, telecoms and television, banking, energy, and mining, manufacturing, and construction.

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Businessman nominated as city football chief

Dang Thanh Tam

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Dang Thanh Tam, chairman of the Saigon Invest Group, was Tuesday nominated as chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation and he will face a vote at an upcoming congress.

He will replace Le Hung Dung, who announced to step down earlier this month following charges that his federation was responsible for city teams’ poor performances in the national leagues this year.

The HFF will convene a congress soon to officially elect the new chief.

Two city teams, Navibank Saigon and the HCMC Football Club, turned in lackluster performances in the league that wrapped up last month, both narrowly escaping relegation.

Dung went reluctantly, arguing the HFF’s tasks are only to develop grassroots football and make rules to ensure fair competition.

“It is illogical to place all the responsibility for local teams’ failure on the HFF,” he said.

The Saigon Invest Group has interests in several industries like tourism, education, real estate and infrastructure development, telecoms and television, banking, energy, and mining, manufacturing, and construction.

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Friendship Cup 2010 draws 12 teams

Football players join the opening ceremony of the Friendship Cup 2010 at Tao Dan Stadium in District 1, HCMC on Monday - Photo: Vu Duc

HCMC – The amateur Friendship Cup 2010, had its opening ceremony at Tao Dan Stadium in HCMC’s District 1 on Monday. The tournament draws five foreign and seven local amateur football teams from the city’s diplomatic agencies and foreign businesses.

The foreign teams were formed by the consulate general offices of the U.S., Indonesia and South Korea, the Vietnam-France Friendship Association and Laos Students, while local teams are the HCMC Union of Friendship Organizations, the HCMC Department of Foreign Affairs, the Service Company to Foreign Missions (FOSCO), Hong Bang International University, Dai Thanh Company, HCMC Open University and Hinh Anh Viet Company. 

The HCMC Union of Friendship Organizations, which organizes the tournament, said the annual competition aims to strengthen ties between foreign communities in HCMC. The tournament will celebrate the 65th anniversary of National Day and the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The organizers of the Friendship Cup will present a bonus prize of VND4 million for the winners. The runner-up will take VND3 million while third will get VND2 million.

The tournament will end at October 2 at Tao Dan Stadium.

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Friendship Cup 2010 draws 12 teams

Football players join the opening ceremony of the Friendship Cup 2010 at Tao Dan Stadium in District 1, HCMC on Monday - Photo: Vu Duc

HCMC – The amateur Friendship Cup 2010, had its opening ceremony at Tao Dan Stadium in HCMC’s District 1 on Monday. The tournament draws five foreign and seven local amateur football teams from the city’s diplomatic agencies and foreign businesses.

The foreign teams were formed by the consulate general offices of the U.S., Indonesia and South Korea, the Vietnam-France Friendship Association and Laos Students, while local teams are the HCMC Union of Friendship Organizations, the HCMC Department of Foreign Affairs, the Service Company to Foreign Missions (FOSCO), Hong Bang International University, Dai Thanh Company, HCMC Open University and Hinh Anh Viet Company. 

The HCMC Union of Friendship Organizations, which organizes the tournament, said the annual competition aims to strengthen ties between foreign communities in HCMC. The tournament will celebrate the 65th anniversary of National Day and the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The organizers of the Friendship Cup will present a bonus prize of VND4 million for the winners. The runner-up will take VND3 million while third will get VND2 million.

The tournament will end at October 2 at Tao Dan Stadium.

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