Female boxers target medal at ASIAD 2014

Female Vietnamese boxers are practicing hard hoping to win at least a medal at the upcoming 17th Asian Games (ASIAD) to be held in Incheon, the Republic of Korea, in September.

Women’s boxing has progressed in recent times thanks to intensive investment from the government and the great passion from young athletes.

Young boxers Luu Thi Duyen and Ha Thi Linh, who bagged two gold medals at the recent 27th SEA Games in Myanmar, are considered Vietnamese hopefuls in Incheon in the next two months.

“ASIAD is too big a competition for Vietnamese boxers, but our female players have competed in Southeast Asia tournaments and we do hope they will bring home at least a bronze medal from ASIAD 2014,” said Vu Duc Thinh, head of Boxing of the Vietnam National Administration of Sports and Physical Training.

Three Vietnamese women are training in Australia to improve their skills. They will fly to Taiwan for an open tournament in early August and return to Vietnam for training in the lead up to ASIAD 2014.

At the upcoming Asian games, they will only compete in three weight categories.

Tien Minh mounts comeback to make Taipei Open quarterfinals

Vietnam badminton star Nguyen Tien Minh smashed his way to second- and third-round victories on July 17 to reach the quarterfinal stage of the Yonex Open Chinese Taipei 2014.

The second-round clash turned out to be a comfortable affair for Tien Minh as he played an underdog – world number 156 Sukamta Evert of Indonesia. It took the Vietnamese shuttler just 35 minutes to conquer the challenge in two straight games, 21-7 and 21-16.

Real difficulty arrived for Tien Minh in his third-round encounter against Taiwanese Yu-Hsien Lin, their first-ever meeting.

Lin forced Minh to concede a first-set defeat (21-19) with his peculiar playing style. However, that was all the world number 84 player could do as Tien Minh, ranked 17th, fought back strongly to claim the remaining two sets by scores of 21-4 and 21-12.

The 2-1 victory over Yu-Hsien Lin drove Tien Minh through to a quarterfinal clash against Wei Nan of Hong Kong.

The Taipei Open 2014 is taking place from July 15–20, offering US$200,000 in total prize money. Tien Minh, the two-time champion from 2009 and 2012, is seeded fourth in the men’s singles event.

Vietnam drop six places in FIFA rankings

Vietnamese men’s team came to a shattering climax on the monthly FIFA rankings for July, sliding six places to 129th in the world.

However, they remain the No 20 team in Asia and 2nd in Southeast Asia, just trailing behind the Philippines (128th) .

World Cup 2014 champions Germany jumped to the top of the rankings, leaving behind Argentina and Holland in second and third places respectively.

Vietnamese-German girl places third at chess champs

Young Vietnamese-German Bui Ngoc Han Julia finished third at the U12 Chess Championships in Dresden, Germany, scoring 6.5 points after 11 matches, just half a point less than top place Lara Schulze.

Her brother, Hai Lam, also competed at the champs but failed to win a prize although he previously has claimed several youth champion titles in Germany and was the runner-up at the Sachsen tournament in 2010.

Born in 2003 to a Vietnamese family in Dresden, Ngoc Han Julia was filled with great passion for playing chess at a very early age.

Thanks to her outstanding performances, she won first prize of a U8 chess championship in Dresden in 2008, and two years later she bagged a gold medal at the U8 event in the German state of Sachsen.

Last year, Ngoc Han Julia became the champion of the German Youth U10 Individual Chess Champs and was selected to compete at the World Chess Championships in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Ngoc Han Julia’s achievements show the remarkable successes gained by the second generation of overseas Vietnamese. She has been awarded a certificate of merit by the Vietnamese Embassy and honoured as a young Vietnamese talent in Germany.

That records third stage victory

Nguyen Thi That scored a hat-trick in the third stage of the An Giang Television Cycling Cup yesterday.

The cyclist from Gao Hat Ngoc Troi finished 21 laps (33.6 kilometres) around the Vo Van Kiet Avenue of the Vinh Long City in a time of 55.39 minutes.

Nguyen Thi Thanh of Imexpharm Dong Thap 1 and Nguyen Thuy Dung of Binh Duong Environment-Water Supply and Drainage were second and third.

That, who created a one-lap distance with her rivals, also pocketed an additional 15 points to make it 50 and strengthened her position in the green jersey race. Her outstanding performance also helped her remain the leader on the tour with a total time of 6:55.56.

Trailing her were Dung and Dang Huong Thao of Vinamit HCM City.

All three teams Binh Duong, Imexpharm and Gao Hat Ngoc Troi shared the same time of 20:48.57 after four rounds, but Binh Duong are ranked first.

Women's football champs resumes

The National Women's Football Championship's second leg will start today in Nha Trang City and end on August 2.

Phong Phu Ha Nam, Ha Noi 1 and Viet Nam Coal and Minerals were the top three teams at the end of the first leg of the event.

Ha Noi 1 will play Ha Noi 2 in the opening match at the city stadium. In the second match, HCM City will play Thai Nguyen. The last match of the day will be between Coal and Ha Nam.

Some matches which are expected to witness aggressive competition will be broadcast live on the VTV6 channel.

Women's football champs resumes

The National Women's Football Championship's second leg will start today in Nha Trang City and end on August 2.

Phong Phu Ha Nam, Ha Noi 1 and Viet Nam Coal and Minerals were the top three teams at the end of the first leg of the event.

Ha Noi 1 will play Ha Noi 2 in the opening match at the city stadium. In the second match, HCM City will play Thai Nguyen. The last match of the day will be between Coal and Ha Nam.

Some matches which are expected to witness aggressive competition will be broadcast live on the VTV6 channel.

Giang ousted in second round

Despite great effort Trinh Linh Giang of Viet Nam failed to continue at the ongoing International Tennis Federation Junior Circuit in HCM City.

Giang lost 1-6, 4-6 to No 4 seed Jefferey Hsu of Chinese Taipei in the second round of the boys' singles category.

There still have Dao Minh Trang of the host staying with the tournament. She will play the girls' singles quarter-final match today against qualifier Joleta Buliman of Indonesia.

In the girls doubles, Trang will pair with Si Boi Ngoc to face Thai duo Napawee Junkeaw and Chatmanee Junkeaw in the last-four round.

Hoang fired after disappointing season

The V-League second division's Ha Noi FC fired coach Truong Viet Hoang on Tuesday.

Ha Noi failed to gain promotion to the V-League next season after finishing fourth with 20 points after 14 matches.

Hoang, who was on vacation with his family at the time, was surprised by the decision, but said he did not regret saying goodbye to the team.

Hoang became Ha Noi's head coach near the end of the 2013 season when they were facing the risk of relegation.

The coach played a key role in helping Ha Noi stay up that year, but his failure this season sealed his fate.

The club has not revealed Hoang's successor.

Trang makes it through to quarter-finals

Dao Minh Trang was the only Vietnamese player to reach the quarter-finals in the singles girls' event of the ITF Juniors Tennis Championships, which is taking place at Phu Tho Tennis Club in HCM City.

Trang's opponent, Kamonluk Kittitanom from Thailand, had a stomach-ache and could not play.

The HCM City-based tennis player, 17, will play Joleta Budiman of Indonesia. Budiman beat Pichayatida Jandaeng of Thailand 7-6(2), 6-2 in the previous round.

Third-seeded Mimi Levine of the US will face Novela Rezha Millenia Putri of Indonesia in the second quarter-final match.

Other quarter-final matches are between Ashley Kei Yim of Singapore and Thailand's Napharat Swangkaew, and South Korea's sixth seed Eun Se Jang and second-seeded Natsumi Okamoto of Japan.