Singapore men and women win SEA table tennis titles

Singaporeans won both the men’s and women’s singles gold medals at the first VOV Southeast Asian Table Tennis Championships that ended in Hai Duong Province on Sunday.

The 19^th-ranked Singaporean Gao Ning proved superior to Vietnam’s Dinh Quang Linh, easily beating him 11-4, 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 in the final match.

In the semifinals, Gao Ning had lost the first two sets 7-11, 9-11 to Phan Huy Hoang of Vietnam, but fought back to book his place in the final, winning the last three sets 15-13, 12-10, 11-7, 11-8.

The other men’s singles semifinal match was played between two Vietnamese players Dinh Quang Linh and Tran Tuan Quynh.

Teammates in the national squad, both played an attacking game with Linh prevailing 11-6, 5-11, 11-6, 11-13, 8-11, 11-3 , 11- 9.

In the women’s singles final match, Singapore’s Yu Meng Yu, ranked 17^th in the world, thrashed Thailand’s number one Nathana Komwong in straight sets 14-12, 11-6, 11-2, 11-7.

The event was co-organized by the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and Vietnam Table Tennis Federation. The contest has been made an official annual competition in Southeast Asia.

This year’s two-day event, which was participated in by 26 leading table tennis players from Vietnam and six from Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, offered a total cash prize of US$17,000, with the men’s and women’s singles winners taking US$3,000 each.

The competition is seen as a chance for players to prepare for the 16^th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China from November 12-27.

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Heavy defeat dims Da Nang’s AFC Cup chances

Vietnam’s V-League 2009 champs Da Nang suffered a 0-3 away defeat to Bahrain’s Al Riffa in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup quarterfinal’s first leg on Tuesday September 14.

Not having their best players in the squad and playing an away match against a superior team, Da Nang coach Le Huynh Duc had his players play defensively.

After a dangerous attack from Al Riffa, Da Nang settled down somewhat, displaying better skills. They produced two clear chances but Argentine striker Nicolas Hernandez and Thanh Hung failed to get the ball past custodian Al Mansoor.

Al Riffa were not very impressive, but against the run of play, they scored a goal 15 minutes after the break when midfielder Ahmed Alajmi fired a low shot past Da Nang goalkeeper Van Hanh.

The goal boosted Jose Rocha’s players and they played with more gusto, but were unable to dent the Vietnamese defense further.

However, the visitors showed signs of exhaustion as the game was drawing to an end; and Al Riffa capitalized with two goals in the final minutes.

The heavy loss makes it very hard for Da Nang to book a berth in Asia’s second-tier contest AFC Cup this year.

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Heavy defeat dims Da Nang’s AFC Cup chances

Vietnam’s V-League 2009 champs Da Nang suffered a 0-3 away defeat to Bahrain’s Al Riffa in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup quarterfinal’s first leg on Tuesday September 14.

Not having their best players in the squad and playing an away match against a superior team, Da Nang coach Le Huynh Duc had his players play defensively.

After a dangerous attack from Al Riffa, Da Nang settled down somewhat, displaying better skills. They produced two clear chances but Argentine striker Nicolas Hernandez and Thanh Hung failed to get the ball past custodian Al Mansoor.

Al Riffa were not very impressive, but against the run of play, they scored a goal 15 minutes after the break when midfielder Ahmed Alajmi fired a low shot past Da Nang goalkeeper Van Hanh.

The goal boosted Jose Rocha’s players and they played with more gusto, but were unable to dent the Vietnamese defense further.

However, the visitors showed signs of exhaustion as the game was drawing to an end; and Al Riffa capitalized with two goals in the final minutes.

The heavy loss makes it very hard for Da Nang to book a berth in Asia’s second-tier contest AFC Cup this year.

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Vietnam enjoys lucky draw in 2010 AFF Cup

Vietnam got a lucky break as the draw was announced for the 2010 ASEAN Football Association (AFF) Cup in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The defending champions will play in Group B against Singapore, Myanmar and won’t clash with big rivals like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in the early stages of the contest.

Powerhouse Thailand will play Malaysia, Group A hosts Indonesia and the first-place team from the qualifying round.

The qualifying round will kick off in Vientiane in late October. The Laotian hosts will face off against Cambodia, East Timor and the Philippines for two places in the final round – which begins in early December.

Asked if he felt relieved about Vietnam’s placement in Group B, Calisto said “Which group would you choose if you could? Of course, Group B is easier!

“But as I said before, we will kill ourselves if we don’t respect rivals. There were two strong contenders for the title in 2008; and now there are five.”

Calisto, who helped Vietnam win the AFF trophy in 2008, said Singapore has made constant progress and Myanmar has improved a lot, too.

The Portuguese coach said that Vietnam will have to do their best in every single match to defend the championship of the biennial regional football event.

He believed that Vietnam won the title two years ago by surprising all of its rivals – but, this year,

Vietnam’s opponents have studied their techniques and will come to the matches very familiar with the team’s playing style.

The best two teams from groups A and B will play two-leg matches, away and home, in the semifinals.

The losers in the semi-finals will both take third place titles while the winners will play a two-leg final for the championship.

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Ethnic Culture-Tourism Village makes debut

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked Hanoi and other localities
in the nation to build the Culture-Tourism Village of Vietnamese ethnic
groups in Son Tay district of Hanoi into an attractive destination for
foreign and domestic tourists.

Addressing the
opening ceremony of the village in Hanoi on Sept. 19, PM Dung said
that the village has helped enrich the nation’s culture.

Culture is the society’s spiritual foundation, said PM Dung, noting
that the Party and the State always pay attention to preserving and
promoting cultural identity.

Together with the
State’s investment, all economic sectors should be encouraged to invest
in cultural activities to help boost national development, said the PM.

The opening ceremony was attended by Party General
Secretary Nong Duc Manh, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung,
Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Huynh Dam,
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) Hoang Tuan Anh,
Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Giang
Seo Phu, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen The Thao,
cultural researchers and village patriarchs from across the country.

Located on a 1,544-ha area in Dong Mo
, Son Tay district, the village is a complex of traditional
Vietnamese architectures, highlighting unique characteristics of the
national culture.

The Vietnamese Ethnic
Culture-Tourism Village project, approved by the Prime
Minister in 2008, aims to honour and preserve the cultural value of
Vietnam ’s 54 ethnic minority groups and promote Vietnam ’s
images to the world. It is also expected to become the nation’s culture,
sports, and tourism centre featuring Vietnamese cultural heritage and
meet the public’s demands for recreation.

On the
threshold of the Thang Long – Hanoi millennial anniversary, the
opening of the village is a politically, culturally, and socially
significant event to meet the public’s demand for preserving the
nation’s cultural value.

On the same day, there
were a variety of activities including a ceremony to honour the crafts
villages of 54 ethnic minority groups, an exhibition showcasing products
of the ethnic groups, and cultural exchanges between ethnic groups./.

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Singapore to show where F1 title heading, says Button

McLaren Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain attends a news conference at the Monza racetrack near Milan September 9, 2010.

Photo: Reuters

LONDON - Next week's Singapore Grand Prix will show where the Formula One title is heading and whether McLaren can match Red Bull and Ferrari in the final races, according to world champion Jenson Button.

"I think it'll give us a clearer idea of the destiny of the world championship," the Briton, one of five drivers fighting for the title in a cliffhanger season, said in a McLaren team preview.

"The last time we were at a low-speed, high-downforce track was in Hungary back at the start of August," he added.

"Our car wasn't particularly competitive there and maybe we haven't had a properly representative view of the top teams' relative pace because we've just visited two high-speed circuits."

Red Bull were dominant in Hungary but had a harder time in Belgium and at high-speed Monza last weekend, with neither of their drivers on the Italian podium in a race won by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Despite that, Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber took the championship lead from McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who retired on the opening lap at Monza.

Hamilton won in Singapore last year.

"I've already drawn a line under Monza. I've learnt from the experience and, while it was extremely disappointing, those things are sometimes what you need to sharpen your mind and raise your game and motivation at an extremely crucial time in the season," said the 2008 champion.

McLaren have been working hard to improve their car and will be bringing new developments that should make it more competitive on slower circuits. There are four more races after Singapore - Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

At the same time the governing International Automobile Federation has tightened the rules to prevent the flexing front wings that were thought to be giving Red Bull an advantage.

"A lot has changed since that race in Budapest," said Button.

"Not least, some quite hefty revisions to the rulebook regarding bodywork flexibility and, additionally, a lot of work by the engineers... to ensure our car is now better suited to slower circuits.

"Singapore will be interesting for all of us -- we'll not only get an idea of the speed of the Ferrari and Red Bull, but we'll get to see for the first time whether all our efforts over the past two months have helped put us back in the ballpark at high-downforce tracks."

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France beat Argentina to reach Davis Cup final

Michael Llodra (L) and Arnaud Clement of France clap after beating Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina in their Davis Cup World group doubles semi-final tennis match as Argentina's captain Tito Vasquez (back R) leaves the court, in Lyon September 18, 2010.

Photo: Reuters

LYON - Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement's expertise in the doubles was too much for Argentina's Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos on Saturday when France clinched a 3-0 win to power into the Davis Cup final.

France, who got off to a perfect start on Friday with singles victories by Llodra and Gael Monfils, will face either Serbia away or Czech Republic at home in the Dec. 3-5 final.

Although they were without their injured number one Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Guy Forget's team, who beat holders Spain in the previous round, went on the attack in all their three matches, backed by a loud Palais des Sports crowd.

"I am very proud, they're all here together, the seven of them, those who played and those who also contributed to this victory," captain Forget said in a courtside interview as Monfils, substitute Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Tsonga and Julien Benneteau congratulated the day's winners.

"There is still a great tie to be played," Forget added.

Clement and Llodra, pairing up in the men's team event for the first time since 2008, quickly found their marks, bagging the opening set with a spectacular point at the net.

The pair, who won the 2007 Wimbledon title together, raced to a 2-0, 40-0 lead in the second but became over-confident and let their opponents back into the match.

But Llodra was too strong at the net, Clement too precise on his service returns, for them to be really threatened and they pocketed the second set with a decisive break in the 12th game.

Good wine

Schwank and Zeballos continued to struggle at the net in the third and found themselves trailing 5-2.

Dozens of Argentina fans stood up and yelled their support to try to inspire a fightback and they held serve to reach 5-3.

However, the respite was short and a Llodra service winner clinched a deserved victory for the home side after two hours 29 minutes.

"This is fabulous. I am, with my mates, in the Davis Cup final, now with my mate Arnaud, I'm so happy," said Llodra as many of the 6,000 fans waved French flags in the same arena where France won the Davis Cup final back in 1991.

"We're like good wine, we get better with age."

The 32-year-old Clement was grateful to get the chance to play a part in the team's victory.

"I know I'm also here because others were injured. I now want everybody to be fit for the final so that Guy (Forget) can pick the best ones," he said.

Argentina captain Tito Vazquez did not expect the match to turn out the way it did.

"I could not imagine the score would be that harsh, although I knew the French were strong," he told reporters. "Things would have been different if we had been at 1-1 Friday night."

Monfils, a 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-3 winner over David Nalbandian on Friday, is due to play Juan Monaco in the reverse singles on Sunday when Llodra, who beat Monaco 7-5 4-6 7-5 6-3, is due to play Nalbandian.

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