VietNam Culture

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Big toe crew bags Asian hip-hop competition prize

A Vietnamese hip-hop dance crew has bagged the first prize at Southeast
Asia's Battle of the Year (BOTY) contest in Singapore

The 11-member crew, which belong to the top hip-hop dance group in Viet
Nam , Big Toe, vied with five other hip-hop crews from Thailand ,
Malaysia , Laos , Singapore , and Indonesia for the prize.

The crew will now have the chance to compete at the World BOTY, which
will take place in Montpellier , France , next month.

"Although we have sent our members to compete at BOTY every year since
2005, this is the first time a Big Toe crew has won the contest," said
Big Toe's leader, Nguyen Viet Thanh.

The nine-day contest
in France will draw 19 crews from five continents, including
representatives from the Republic of Korea , France , Brazil , and
Taiwan , who are considered to be Big Toe's closest competitors.

Founded in 1992 with seven original members, Big Toe currently has 60
members, divided into four dance groups. They are widely recognised as
Vietnam 's first hip hop dance troupe.

With a number of
top prizes won at a variety of international competitions, Big Toe were
awarded the Certificate of Merit on Oct. 12 by the Vietnam Electronic
Sport and Recreational Sport Association under the Ministry of Culture,
Sport and Tourism.

Big Toe are planning to tour around
France and Germany next year to present their hip-hop theatre
production, Cam Xuc Thay Doi (Change of Emotion)./.

Team set to peak for Asian Games

On the edge: Gymnast Phan Thi Ha Thanh won a gold medal in the women's balance event at the National Gymnastics Championships last year. She will be one of the Vietnamese representatives at the November ASIAD in China. — VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI — The Vietnamese gymnastics team has vowed to bring home their first medal from the Asian Games.

"It will be a challenge for us at Asia's biggest games, but I do believe that all athletes will make something happen like they did at the World Cup event," said head of the National Sports Administration's gymnastics division Nguyen Kim Lan.

Top gymnasts Phan Thi Ha Thanh and Pham Phuoc Hung will lead their team as they attempt to bring home a gold medal at the Asian Games in China next month.

The duo performed well at the Artistic Gymnastics FIG World Cup in Porto, Portugal in June.

Thanh pocketed a silver medal in the women's individual vault event.

The Southeast Asian Games champion finished seventh out of 19 in the floor event and seventh in the balanced beam competition.

"It's the best result a Vietnamese gymnast has achieved at an international competition since the country first competed at the Moscow Olympics in 1980," said Lan.

Pham Phuoc Hung achieved a personal best when he finished fourth in the men's individual parallel bars event at the World Cup.

The Hanoian qualified for the parallel bars final round at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship in London last October.

Hung, who has been training in China since 1998, and his male teammates will compete at the international event in the Netherlands, which runs through next week.

The team will also receive help from Do Thi Ngan Thuong, who is eligible to compete in the women's all-around event.

The Beijing Olympian said she will do her best at the Guangzhou Games to win a medal that she can add to her collection. — VNS

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

China dominates Badminton Vietnam Open

China dominates Badminton Vietnam Open Chinese badminton players took three of the five championships at the Yonex Sunrise Vietnam Grand Prix 2010 which ended in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday.

Chinese player Chen Yuekun, ranked 294^th in the world, grabbed the men’s singles title after beating Nan Wel of Hong Kong 21-13, 21-14 in the finals to take a US$3,750 cash prize.

It was Chen who dethroned the tournament’s top-ranked player, Vietnamese star Nguyen Tien Minh in the quarterfinals –who, at the time, was ranked 9^th in the world.

The women’s singles final match turned into an all-Chinese contest. Jin Ma-Qianxin Zheng beat compatriots Jinhua Tang-Huan Xia 21-19, 21-23, 21-13.

The Chinese pair Hanbin He-Jin Ma earned their mixed doubles victory after beating Hong Kong rivals Youhan-Samatha in straight sets in the finals.

The men’s doubles title went to the Indonesian duo Ahsan-Septano who beat Malaysian competitors Tazari and Soon Hock Ong.

Inthanon from Thailand claimed the women’s singles gold medal after beating Chinese contestant Hui Zhon 21-17, 22-20 in the final match.

The event indicated that Vietnamese badminton players, especially women players, are still very far from qualifying as international competitors.

Movie distributor brings films to remote rural areas

Travelling to small villages in remote and mountainous regions is a hard
task at the best of times, but for members of a mobile film-screening
team based in HCM City , it is a full-time job.

"People usually come early to the film shows, sit on the ground to
watch, and stay until late," Vu Trong Tuan, a member of the three-strong
team, says.

"Their enthusiasm is our main source of encouragement."

The screenings are arranged by the State-owned Saigon Cinema Corporation for whom Tuan has been working for 35 years.

Documentary and feature films on the struggle for liberation, like
Duong Ve Que Me (Travelling Back to Native Land) and Vi Tuyen 17 Ngay Va
Dem (The 17th Parallel, Days and Nights), and cartoons are the most
commonly screened.

The team goes on its mission come
rain or shine. Planning a trip sometimes takes time, especially when it
is to a place that does not have electricity and generators are
required.

Once there, however, the crew will stay for a week.

"The team has a jeep. But many times we go on motorbikes to villages surrounded by mountains and forests," Tuan says.

"Often we have to wade through knee-deep brooks that cross muddy roads.

"We can get wet when it rains but our projector, films, and other equipment must be carefully protected."

Many times the team arrives late in the afternoon. "We may not have
time for dinner. But we must prepare for the film show quickly because
people are waiting," he says.

"We work forgetting
our hardship because the viewers get so much enjoyment from it and
because we are warmly received," Dang To Ha, the head of the team, says.

Ha has also worked for 35 years.

The films are usually screened in the yards of schools and
administrative offices or meeting places for the region's various ethnic
peoples.

The audience usually arrives several hours
before the show's 7pm start. Often, the shows last past midnight as
viewers ask for more screenings.

"Many poor ethnic
people in remote areas in the Central Highlands may never see films," he
says, adding it is moving when people inquire when the team will be
back.

Since 2006 alone the team has shown more than
400 cartoons, feature films, and documentaries to audiences totalling
over 300,000.

It has received many certificates of commendation from HCM City authorities for its efforts./.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Football: Golden Whistle blows for Tri

FIFA-accredited referee Vo Minh Tri won the Golden Whistle award for
the best referee of the year following his outstanding performance in
the V-League last season.

Tri, 38, received 72 votes
with a total of 310 points, beating his colleague Vo Quang Vinh, who
came in second with 202 points.

Phung Dinh Dung of Hanoi bagged third place.

Following the announcement on Oct. 12, linesman Nguyen Ngoc Ha from Hai Duong took the Golden Flag with 341 points.

It's the second year in a row that Ha has won the title for best referee's assistant.

He was followed by Nguyen Phong Vu from Ha Tinh and Nguyen Hoang Minh
of Dong Nai, who finished second and third, respectively.

"Tri is a popular choice for the award. He always shows the experience
and skills of a FIFA referee," said chairman of the National Referee's
Council Nguyen Van Mui.

The 38-year-old was one of the youngest referees to be accredited by FIFA back in 2001.

Last year, Tri just won the Bronze Whistle.

The official awards ceremony will be held in Hanoi on Oct. 14./.

Top gymnasts to compete at Asian Games

HA NOI – The Vietnamese gymnastics team has vowed to bring home their first medal from the Asian Games.