Gymnast Ha Thanh takes bronze at Croatia Grand Prix

Phan Thi Ha Thanh has won bronze for the vault event at the Grand Prix Osijek held in Croatia from September 13-15.

Thanh who previously won gold medals at the World Championship, finished fifth in the qualifying round, scoring a total of 13,713.

She overtook two rivals to come in third in the final round.

On September 15, Ha Thanh entered the final round of the uneven bars event but did not manage to secure a medal.

Before competing at the event, Ha Thanh had been training in Hungary for two weeks.

Minh drops two places to seventh position

Vietnamese badminton ace Nguyen Tien Minh dropped two places to seventh in the latest world ranking which were released on Thursday.

Minh achieved the highest ranking of his career in August after winning his world first bronze medal at the world badminton championships in China.

But failing to defend his title at the Chinese Taipei badminton tournament following a 2-1 defeat in the final resulted in a drop in the rankings.

It's been a good season for Minh with the money he won for claiming the US Open and a US$44,000 deal to play for Pune Piston in the Indian League.

Phuoc wins eighth gold at nationals

Hoang Quy Phuoc added another gold to his collection with a title in the men's 50m freestyle event at the National Swimming Championships yesterday in Ha Noi.

The Da Nang-born athlete finished first with a time of 23.75 seconds to earn his eighth gold at the national championships.

HCM City swimmers won three golds yesterday in the women's 50m freestyle, men's 800m freestyle and women's 400m medley relay.

Other winners on the penultimate day of the annual tournament were former SEA Games champion Nguyen Huu Viet of Hai Phong (men's 200m breaststroke), Le Thi Viet Trinh from Quang Binh (women's 200m breaststroke) and Binh Phuoc Province's Le Thi My Thao (women's 800m freestyle).

After four days of competition, HCM City ranked first with 13 golds. The championships conclude today with eight finals.

Hung among world chess leaders

Nguyen Thi Mai Hung won her first two matches at the World Junior Chess Championships' Girl Pool in Kocaeli, Turkey to maintain a 100 per cent record.

The 19-year-old, who is among tournament's top-ranked athletes, will next meet Saduakassova Dinara from Kazakhstan.

Teammate Vo Thi Kim Phung pocketed 1.5 points after one win and a draw. Her next opponent will be Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz of Uzbekistan.

The world tournament for boys and girls under 20 will close on September 27.

Local table tennis player bags bronze at int’l tourney

Vietnamese player DinhQuangLinh won a bronze medal at the 27th International Golden Racket Tournament, which concluded in Ho Chi Minh City on September 14, after four days of competition.

Linh missed a chance to clinch gold after being defeated 2-4 by the Republic of Korea’s Kim Bum Soeb from in the semi-finals of the men’s single.

The gold medal went to Lee Jin Kwon from the RoK, who took the trophy for the second time.

In the women’s single, Japan’s Kato Kyoka, world No92, took gold, while the silver medal went to Lin Ye of Singapore.

Petrosetco of Ho Chi Minh City was placed second, behind Japan in the women’s team division. Republic of Korean players carried off the gold medal in the men’s team, followed by Singapore.

In the medal tally, the RoK ranked first with two gold, one silver and two bronze medals. Japan came in second with one gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

This year’s tournament was made up of 81 table tennis players from 21 teams of Malaysia, Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Thailand, the RoK, Japan, India, and the hosts Vietnam.

VN female footballers beat Jordan at SEA champs

Vietnamese female football players have overwhelmingly defeated their Jordanian rivals at the ongoing Southeast Asian Football Championships in Ho Chi Minh City.

They scored two goals in the 19th and 29th minute of the first half and two more in the 72nd and 85th minute of the second half.

The 4.0 win over Jordan has provided fresh impetus for them to compete in the 2014 Asian Cup’s qualifying rounds.

In their next match, they will meet strong rivals from Australia in Group A on September 19.

U19 Vietnam make AFF semi-finals

Vietnam has qualified for the semi-finals of the ongoing ASEAN U19 Youth Football Championship in Indonesia, after defeating their hosts 2-1 on September 14.

Hargianto gave Indonesia an early lead in the first minute before Duc Huy scored an equalizing goal in the 30th minute.

Striker Van Toan extended Vietnam’s lead four minutes later, completing a convincing victory over Indonesia.

The game was described as decisive as both Vietnam and Indonesia had won two earlier games, and another win would open wide the door for the winners to cruise into the semi-finals.

Hargianto’s disputable goal in the first minute of the game put Vietnam at a disadvantage. From his strong kick, the ball hit the horizontal bar and bounced down, touching the line. Referee Xaypaseuth Phonsanit accepted the goal.

Despite the opening goal, Coach Graechen Guillaume’s men still looked comfortable with counterattacks on Indonesia’s field, and they missed a chance to strike an equalizing goal in the first 15 minutes.

Their constant efforts paid off on 30 minutes when Vietnam was awarded a corner kick. From the corner, Xuan Truong set up the ball for Duc Huy to jump up and head home.

Four minutes later, striker Van Toan capitalized on an Indonesian defender’s mistake, slotting the ball into the net from close range.

Indonesian players tried to make the score even in the second half, but no more goals were scored.

Vietnam topped Group B with nine points after three consecutive wins, earning a place in the semi-finals.

In their next group matches, Vietnam will meet underdogs Myanmar and Brunei.

Third consecutive win for Vietnam at Davis Cup

Vietnam defeated the hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE) 3-0 at the Davis Cup‘s BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Zone Group III tie held at Dubai Aviation Club on September 13.

In the men’s singles, both Hoang Thien and Minh Quan beat their UAE opponents Hamad Janahi and Omar Khaled Alawadhy to the same score of two sets to love.

The men’s doubles pair of Quoc Khanh and Minh Tuan won their first set against the duo of Hamad and Alali 6-2 and were leading the second 4-2 when the latter surrendered due to injury.

Vietnam also won its earlier ties against Cambodia 3-0 and Pacific Oceania 2-1.

Vietnam now tops Pool B.

The upcoming matches between Vietnam and Cambodia (Pool B) and Hong Kong and Malaysia (Pool A) will decide the two groups’ advancing nations.

Women footballers claim first win in Myanmar

The national women’s football team has defeated Malaysia 1-0 in their 2013 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup match on September 13.

Coach Chen Yun Fat is holding nothing back, once more fielding his strongest team in the hopes of seizing the momentum that will propel his players to tournament success.

Vietnam launched attack after attack throughout the match’s 90 minutes, but only Captain Le Thi Thuong succeeded in hammering home in the 33rd minute.

Vietnam’s four points place it third in Group A. The team will now face Jordan on September 15.

Australia beat Jordan 5-1 to leap to the top of Group A with 6 points.

In Group B, Myanmar, Japan, the Philippines, and Laos are tied at 3 points. September 14 will see Japan play Indonesia and hosts Myanmar face off against the Philippines.

National taekwondo tournament attracts 400 artists

Nearly 400 martial artists are competing fiercely at the 2013 National Taekwondo Championship, currently underway in the central province of Binh Thuan from September 13-19.

The contestants, representing 32 teams from across the country, battle it out for 28 sets of individual and team medals in both the men's and women's demonstration and combat categories.

Ho Chi Minh City topped the demonstration tally at last year's event with four gold medals and one bronze, while Hanoi and Binh Duong were crowned men's and women's combat champions, respectively.

The weeklong competition is an ideal platform for outstanding artists to show off their abilities and vie for a spot in the national taekwondo team which is to compete in the 27th Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar this December.