Ha Nam woman crowned at first Miss HIV pageant

Tran Thi Hue from the northern province of Ha Nam won the first prize of
the “Elegant Plus” contest, the first-ever beauty pageant for
HIV-infected women in Vietnam, which was held in Hanoi on Nov. 14.

The
crown is a worthy reward for Hue, who has struggled against HIV/AIDS
over the past ten years. The 28-year-old woman has two children, one
also living with HIV and the other suffering from hearing and speaking
disabilities. Her husband died of the disease.

The runner-ups included Nghiem Thi Lan from Thai Binh province and To Thi Tuyet from Bac Giang province.

The
competition’s final night, co-sponsored by the Centre for Supporting
Community Development Initiatives, Vietnam Television and For the Bright
Future Network, featured ao dai (traditional long dress) and evening
gown performances and a question and answer session.

More than
100 women participating in the beauty pageant have overcome social
stigma and discrimination to affirm themselves in life. They joined the
contest with the aim of contributing a voice of people living with
HIV/AIDS and bringing their messages to the community.

From Nov.
9-11, the contestants visited an orphanage at Bo De Pagoda in Gia Lam
district and worked on campaigns to distribute information about
HIV/AIDS.

Previously, HIV/AIDS patient Pham Thi Hue became an Asian hero in HIV/AIDS prevention./.

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Bronze in wushu puts nation on tally board

First step: Nguyen Manh Quyen of Viet Nam competes in the men's wushu gunshu at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou in which he won a bronze medal. Macau's Jia Rui won gold followed by South Korean Lee Jonq-chan for silver. — AFP/VNA Photo

HA NOI — Viet Nam added its name to the 16th Asian Games medal tally yesterday when wushu artist Nguyen Manh Quyen won a medal on the second day of competition in Guangzhou, China.

Quyen scored 19.38 points in the daoshu and gunshu events during the all-around competition at the Nansha Gymnasium to claim the bronze, the first medal for the Vietnamese sport delegation which failed to pocket a single medal on the first day of the Games on Saturday despite strong contenders.

"After I came in third place in the daoshu event I was confident that I would be in the top three and I did it," Quyen said.

Jia Rui made history yesterday by winning's Macau's first-ever Asian Games gold medal when he pocketed victory with 19.61 points in the wushu all-around for the former Portuguese colony.

South Korea's Lee Jong-chan took silver with 19.42 points.

Macau has competed in the ASIAD since 1990 but until Jia's breakthrough performance had only ever won five silver and 10 bronze.

The 23-year-old said it was a proud moment for him and his homeland.

"The gold medal belongs not only to me, but to Macau," he said.

"It is not easy to win a gold medal. Wushu is a hobby for many people in Macau and this will be a big step for the sport at home."

Jia, who also competed at the last ASIAD in Doha four years ago, said just being here was a dream.

"Doha was my first Asian Games and it was like a dream because as a child, I watched the Asian Games on TV and felt it was far away. Now, I'm living in the athlete village and I am part of the atmosphere."

Lee praised the man from Macau.

"The Asian Games are competitive – all my opponents were competitive, but the toughest one to beat was Jia Rui." — VNS

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VN beats Chinese Taipei to host competition in 2016

HA NOI — Viet Nam was selected to host the fifth Asian Beach Games in 2016 at the Olympic Council of Asia's (OCA) meeting which concluded on Saturday in Guangzhou, China.

Viet Nam moved past Chinese Taipei at the last minute to win the right to host the Games which are scheduled to be organised in the central province of Khanh Hoa's Nha Trang City.

Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh and Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, president of the OCA, signed the memorandum of understanding for Viet Nam's hosting of the event.

At the first Games in Bali two years ago, Viet Nam pocketed two gold, five silver and 13 bronze medals for an eighth place finish among 42 delegations.

Viet Nam will compete in 10 sports at the second Games which will be held in Oman's Muscat City early next month.

Viet Nam, which successfully organised the third Asian Indoor Games (AIG) last year, is widely expected to win the right to host the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2017 in HCM City and the 18th Asian Games in 2019, said Viet Nam Olympic Committee Chairman Hoang Vinh Giang.

"President Al-Sabah talked with Minister Tuan Anh after the OCA meeting and said he would be back to Viet Nam to host the 18th ASIAD.

"With his support and our careful preparation, I strongly believe that we will win the right because Viet Nam now has the ability to host big Asian sporting events after our recent success with the AIG and the 22nd SEA Games in 2003," Giang said.

The other countries submitting bids to host the 18th ASIAD are Thailand, Chinese Taipei and India. — VNS

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Vietnam wins first ASIAD medal

Vietnamese wushu artist Nguyen Manh Quyen snagged the first medal for
Vietnam on Nov. 14, the second day of the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD)
which is taking place in Guangzhou , China .

Quyen performed excellently and scored 9.69 points in both Daoshu and
Gunshu events to win a bronze medal with a total of 19.38 points, behind
gold medal winner Jia Rui from Macau and silver medalist Lee Jong-chan
from the Republic of Korea .

Winning a medal was a surprise for Quyen, who is participating in the Asian Games for the first time.

Also on the second day of the competition, Nguyen Phuc Long won his Indonesian rival in the eight-ball billiard.

In
Judo, Nguyen Thi Ly lost her Kazakhstan rival in the women’s 70kg
category, while Le Khac Nhan lost his Japanese artist in the men’s 81kg.

The
shooting team ranked fifth among participating teams, while the female
football team played the first match at the games, loosing 1-6 against
the girls from the Republic of Korea . The Vietnamese girls were
scheduled to play against the host China on Nov. 16./.

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Deputy PM Trong meets Vietnamese team at ASIAD

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong on November 13 called on the
Vietnamese sport delegation to the 16 Asian Games in Guangzhou ,
China .

Deputy PM Trong, who was accompanied by
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh, Vietnamese
Ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho and other high-ranking officials,
attended the opening of the Asia ’s biggest sports festival on Nov. 12.

The Deputy PM encouraged the Vietnamese athletes to try their best to achieve good results at the festival.

Le Quy Phuong, head of the Vietnamese delegation, briefed Deputy PM
Trong of the delegation’s preparations for each game and promised to
spare no efforts to bring home victory.

The
Vietnamese sport delegation includes badminton, billiards and snooker,
chess, weightlifting and table tennis and volleyball contestants.

The contestants will join football and shooting teams who arrived before opening ceremony.

Swimmers, judo and wushu martial artists, dancers and separk takraw players will arrive in the city from training abroad.

Vietnam 's 260 competitors will contest 27 of 42 sports and have set themselves the target of at least four gold medals./.

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City federation launches tennis monthly magazine

The HCM City Tennis Federation (HTF) officially launched the Tennis World Magazine at a press briefing yesterday.

HTF President Nguyen Minh Tam said that the monthly magazine, the first to focus exclusively on tennis in Viet Nam, would also be an official information channel for the federation.

Nguyen Van Ngoan, general editor of the magazine, said that it would provide a variety of tennis-related information including local and international tennis news, technical aspects of the game and health and injury problems.

The magazine, which is only for Vietnamese readers, will hit the stands on the 15th day of each month at a cost of VND24,000 ($1.26) per issue. It will have an initial circulation of 10,000.

French team to debut in Binh Duong Television tournament

Etoile will become the first French team to compete in the Binh Duong Television international football competition for the Number One Cup that kicks off on November 19.

Etoile, entirely made up of players of French origin, are also the first European team to ply their trade in Singapore's professional league. They have just won the S-League title.

Matsubara of Brazil, Chonburi of Thailand and Express of Uganda will be the other foreign teams to play at the Binh Duong Stadium until November 28.

For Matsubara, it will be the fourth appearance in a tournament they won in 2007. Chonburi too played that year.

Express, also first-timers, and Etoile promise to be surprises for local teams.

The teams will be joined by four local clubs – Khatoco Khanh Hoa, Vicem Hai Phong, Dong Tam Long An and host Becamex Binh Duong.

Khanh Hoa have replaced SHB Da Nang, who pulled out because of some reasons.

The annual tournament began in 2000 and comes at a time in the season when local clubs can fine-tune their preparations for the new V-League season as well as poach good players from the visiting teams. — VNS

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Team leaves for opening ceremony in Guangzhou

The major contingent of Vietnam 's competitors in the 16th ASIAD, in
Guangzhou , China , left on Nov. 11 to join the opening of Asia 's
biggest sports festival on Nov. 12.

They include badminton, billiards and snooker, chess, weightlifting and table tennis and volleyball contestants.

The contestants will join football and shooting teams who arrived before opening ceremony.

Swimmers, judo and wushu martial artists, dancers and separk takraw players will arrive in the city from training abroad.

Vietnam 's 260 competitors will contest 27 of 42 sports and have set themselves the target of at least four gold medals.

The Vietnam flag was hoisted at the athletes village on Nov. 11.
The team, the 36th delegation to arrive for the Games, has registered
150 participants for the ASIAD demonstration at the opening ceremony
with volleyball player Ngo Van Kieu carrying the national flag.

Weigh lifter Hoang Anh Tuan is expected to open the medal count for
Vietnam ; his 56kg category will start and finish on Nov. 13.

The weight lifter won a silver medal – a first for Vietnam – at Beijing Olympics./.

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