Sights on Asian medal target

Shooting star: Dang Hong Ha shows her medals at the National Shooting Championship. Ha hopes to maintain her personal best record in the women's air mobile target rifle at Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, on November 11-27. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Truong

HA NOI — National key shooter Dang Hong Ha, 29, hopes to maintain her personal best record in the women's air mobile target rifle at Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, on November 11-27.

The Hanoian shooter, who has been in the sport for a decade, is eager to repeat her achievement of winning an individual bronze, and a silver in the team event at Doha Asian Games four years ago.

She scored 368 points in the women's 10m air mobile target in the Doha Games to bag a silver to add to her 60-medal collection.

The 29-year-old shooter was awarded the Labour Order, Third Class, that year, after claiming the Asian Games silver.

Ha is proud that her individual record of 378 points at the National Shooting Championship has remained unbroken since 2004.

"It's a milestone since I joined the national squad in 2001. Although my younger national team-mates Nguyen Thuy Linh, 23, and Nguyen Thu Hang of the Army team, 26, have their eyes on the record, they still need more time. I think they'll break the record soon as they've rapidly progressed," Ha said.

Last week, the shooter took a cash-prize of VND500,000 (US$ 25) from Chinese coach Liu Ping as she scored 389 points from 40 shots during training, which she said was her best ever achievement.

"I rarely set records in competition. I just try to stabilise my scoring around 370 points because steadiness plays a key role for shooters."

At the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Munich, Germany in July, Ha scored 361 points to rank 13th.

"It was my poorest ever result. I couldn't explain why I shot so badly. The world event may be beyond my abilities," Ha confessed.

Doha Asian Games was a benchmark for Ha Noi-born markswoman as she had a daughter a year later, but her marriage ended after five years, with the couple divorcing early last year, and Ha returning to her parent's house with her three year-old daughter.

"I don't want to talk any more about that sad period. It's over. We separated when we no longer shared our life and love. My daughter is everything for me, behind training with rifle," she said.

The 20km road from home to the national sports training camp in Nhon Town seems shorter as she accompanies her team-mate Nguyen Thi Le Quyen.

The duo also won a team gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games in Laos last year, the medal that Ha cried over after the competition. She felt the achievement had washed away her sadness and overcame the pressure she had experienced to win gold.

Ha has been one of four Vietnamese shooters to have received special daily vitamin supplements of VND200,000 ($10) – three times as much as previously – from the Viet Nam Olympics Committee before the Asian Games kicking off in Guangzhou, China.

She said she tries to do everything she can to become a winner, but she needs a little luck and nerves of steel to turn her medal winning hopes into a reality in just over a month. — VNS

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Vietnam win Eximbank Football Cup

Vietnam players celebrate after winning the Eximbank Cup at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCMC on Saturday - Photo: Ba Chau

HCMC – Vietnam’s U-23 football team won the international Eximbank Cup after beating Iran U21 2-0 in Saturday’s final at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCMC on Saturday.

Singapore U23 secured third place when they tied goalless with Malaysia in Saturday’s earlier game.

Both Vietnam and Iran went into the final with four points from the two opening games, but because of goal difference Iran only needed a draw while Vietnam needed to win.

The home side had beaten Malaysia 2-1 in the opener and tied goalless with Singapore in the second game, while Iran drew 1-1 with Singapore in the first game and beat Malaysia 2-0 in the second game.

Vietnam’s coach Phan Thanh Hung used the strongest squad in hopes of keeping the cup at home. He only used eight key players from the SEA Games line up as they had lost 1-0 to Malaysia in the finals of the 25th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) last December in Laos.

Iran controlled the ball in the first minutes, however, under heavy pressure from local fans at Thong Nhat Stadium, the hosts regained composure.

Striker Nguyen Anh Duc opened the score at 44 minutes with a header after receiving the ball from midfielder Nguyen Duc Thien in the penalty box.

Vietnam was reduced to 10 men in early minutes of the second half when striker Nguyen Anh Duc was sent off with a red card. The visitors tried to exploit the advantage, vainly putting more pressure on the Vietnamese defense.

Substitute player Hoang Dinh Tung, who replaced Nguyen Thanh Trung in the 50th minute, doubled the score in the 80th minute. Tung broke the offside trap before beating Iran’s goalie at the near post.

The round robin was a celebration of the 1,000 anniversary of the Thang Long - Hanoi. Vietnam won with seven points earning them $20,000. Iran finished second with US$10,000. The Singapore side pocketed US$5,000.

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Monaco triumphs at Heineken Stars 2010

HCMC – Juan Monaco from Argentina won the Heineken Stars 2010 tennis competition at HCMC’s Phu Tho sports center on Saturday after beating Mardy Fish from the U.S. 2-1 in the final.

Monaco, who currently ranks 33rd on the ATP table, defeated world No. 19 Fish 6-3 in the first set. The American dominated the second set at 6-1 but Monaco earned a 6-3 victory in the third for the US$40,000 winner’s prize. 

David Nalbandian of Argentina, Tommy Haas of Germany and Robby Ginepri of the U.S. had pulled out of this year’s tournament at the last minute because of injuries. Juan Monaco from Argentina, Tommy Robredo from Spain and Mardy Fish from the U.S were the replacements.

Monaco was a winner of the Austria Open, Buenos Aires and Poertschach in 2007 and he won two men’s doubles titles in Valencia and Auckland in 2008. Robredo earned nine ATP World Tour men’s singles titles and three ATP World Tour men’s doubles titles.

Meanwhile, Mardy Fish is the 2008 US Open quarterfinalist and the silver medalist at Olympic Athens 2004. The U.S. player lost to Roger Federer 1-2 at the ATP Masters Tour 1000 Cincinnati in the finals. Fish also was an ATP London 2010 finalist after beating Andy Murray in the semis.

Monaco went into Saturday’s decider with a 2-0 win over Sam Querrey from the U.S. in the semifinal on Friday 7-6, 6-2. Fish had overcome Tommy Robredo from Spain 6-3, 7-6 in the other semi.

Fish came second, receiving US$20,000. The third places went to Querrey, who ranks 22nd in the world and world No. 42 Robredo, who walked off with US$10,000 each.

Heineken Stars 2010, the third tennis tournament in Vietnam featuring current leading professionals, was organized by the Vietnam Tennis Federation, Heineken’s producers Vietnam Brewery Ltd., and the locally based TLT Sports Marketing Co.

The second tournament in 2008 drew Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, Robin Soderling and Mardy Fish. Tsonga was the champion after defeating Soderling.

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Southeast Asian cultures on show

As many as 42 objects related to Southeast Asian cultures are on display
at an exhibition, which opened in Hanoi on October 4 in the presence
of the Swiss, French, Swedish and Indonesian diplomatic corps in Hanoi.

The exhibition, “A glimpse of South East
Asia”, which presents costumes, lacquer art and Indonesian tribal art
paintings on glass, is part of a Southeast Asia Corner project, a
virtual museum on the regional cultures.

The project aims to enrich public knowledge of the diverse and vibrant Southeast Asian culture.

It is also expected to help visitors discover the similarity and
difference between nations in the region, said organisers from the
Vietnam Ethonology Museum , which will house the Southeast Asian
Corner.

Since 2006, the museum has collected over
2,000 objects, 8,000 documentary pictures and more than 30 video tapes
from the other nine members of the Southeast Asian Nations, namely
Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei,
Singapore, Laos and Myanmar.

Under the project, a
building called “Kite” is now under construction to showcase fabrics and
costumes, daily life, social life, performance art and religion of the
regional countries.

The Head of the Southeast
Asian Section, Dr. Vi Van An, said the collection has highlighted the
traditional weaving technology with special techniques and products
popular not only in the region but also in Europe .

He cited two Gadang costumes of tribes living in north of the Philippines .

Also worth of notes are nine lacquer-painted objects of Myanmar , including those dating back hundreds of years.

“A Glimpse of Southeast Asia” exhibition will last until November 5, 2011./.

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Prizes awarded in photography quest

Thanh The Vinh has won first prize in the Memory of Hanoi photography contest for his work entitled To He (Toy Figurine).

Second prize in the contest, held by Nestle, the Vietnam Association
of Photographic Artists and the photography website www.vnphoto.net,
went to Phan Hien for her work entitled Nho Hanoi (Nostalgia for Hanoi),
while the third prize went to Doan Tat Thang for his work Hanoi Vao
Xuan (Hanoi Enters Spring).

Organisers received
1,363 entries in the contest which was launched early last month with
the aim at giving photographers a venue to share their memories and
thoughts about Hanoi in time for the capital city's anniversary.

"All of the photos really impressed us for reflecting the simple
beauty of Hanoi and its polite people," said Nestle marketing
director Sakulborrirug Chaiyong.

The four-day 1,000
Looks of Hanoi exhibition showcasing the 1,000 most outstanding photos
from the contest was opened on October 3 at the Hanoi Library. An
auction of these photos and 1,000 wooden lacquer boxes from Nestle was
expected to raise about 200 million VND for building a school for poor
children in Hanoi 's Soc Son district, said organisers./.

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Art performances celebrate Hanoi’s anniversary

A “Festival of dragon” show performed by Spanish theatre troupe Els
Comediants and Vietnamese artists from the Circus Federation of Vietnam
took place at the My Dinh National Stadium in Tu Liem district, Hanoi
on Oct. 2 to celebrate Hanoi ’s millennium anniversary.

The art programme, which was jointly held by the Ministry of Culture,
Sports and Tourism, the Hanoi People’s Committee and Spanish Embassy,
featured music, acrobatics, dance and spectacular fireworks, depicting
the legend of the birth of the city mixing elements of Vietnamese
culture with a Spanish perspective.

It combined
the musical language and aesthetics of one of Vietnam’s most popular
dragon legends and the Spanish spirit fire to tell about the royal
proclamation of King Ly Thai To to transfer the capital from Hoa Lu to
Thang Long in 1010.

The show started with a dragon
waking up after a long sleep and breathing fire into the sky, to create
the islands of Ha Long Bay. Then the islands become greener and more
beautiful waking up other gods.

The centerpiece of
the stage was a big dragon, ten meters wide and ten meters tall with its
moving eyes to express emotion.

Established 33
years ago, Els Commediants includes a group of artists of different
majors. They staged art performances in many countries across the world,
attracting a large number of fans.

On October 3, a
special art performance themed “Thang Long-Hanoi in Ho Chi Minh era”
took place at Ly Thai To Flower Garden .

The
programme included a phantasmagoria of four chapters reflecting major
events in the history of the country and the capital city from Duy Tan
movement, the birth of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Declaration
of Independence read by the late President Ho Chi Minh on September 2,
1945 to the current cause of national construction.

Spectators swelled with pride in the country’s traditions and the
1,000-year history of the capital city when viewing the images, which
were presented in popular songs about Hanoi./.

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VN’s Olympic team wins friendly football tournament

The nation's Olympic team won a four-team international friendly
tournament with a convincing 2-0 win over Olympic Iran in the
tournament's final match at Thong Nhat Stadium on Oct. 2.

Striker Nguyen Anh Duc, who received a red card in the second half,
opened scoring with a header at the stroke of half-time. Substitute
Hoang Dinh Tung settled the match with a precise finish after beating an
offside trap.

The Olympic team receive a trophy and a
cash prize of 20,000 USD while Iran, at second place in the
tourney, get 10,000 USD. Olympic Singapore ranked third, followed by
Malaysia.

"Although this was a friendly tournament, the
victory will boost our players in the Asian Games in Guangzhou next
month," said Phan Thanh Hung, coach of Hanoi T&T.

Hung was assigned by national team coach Henrique Calisto to lead the Olympic team in this tournament.

"After three matches, many weaknesses were revealed, but I'm satisfied
with the players' fighting spirit, especially that of the new players
who made a considerable contribution to the victory," said Hung/.

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