Viet Nam jump nine spots in FIFA ranking;

Viet Nam's national football team have jumped nine places from to 116th in the rankings for April, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has announced.

The jump has catapulted Viet Nam to become the top team in the Southeast Asian region, followed by Thailand which are currently 140th and Malaysia as 142nd.

Spain are still topping the world rankings followed by Germany and Portugal. FIFA will announce its rankings next on May 8.

Vietnam out of Singapore open tourney contention

Local badminton players, including No.1 Nguyen Tien Minh and young talent Vu Thi Trang, have come up short at the 2014 Singapore Open Super Series, dropping out of contention for a top 10 finish.

Top player Nguyen Tien Minh (World No.10) missed a chance to proceed at the tournament after suffering a crushing defeat by Indian opponent Srikanth, who currently stands 15 steps below Minh on the world ratings.

In the women’s single event, Vietnam’s Vu Thi Trang (World No.95) lost to No.4 seed Bae Yeon Ju (World No.6) of the Republic of Korea although Trang did manage to claim two earlier victories over Anna Astrakhantseva of Russia and Cheah Lydia of Malaysia in previous matches.

With 3,600 points earned at the Super Series matches and 4,000 from the Vietnam Challenge tourney, Trang is a hopeful to enter the world’s top 70.

In the mixed team’s event, Vietnam will compete against German rivals on April 11 with the aim of eking out an 11th place at the ongoing tournament in Singapore.

Minh drops to 10 in world rankings

Vietnamese top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh dropped to 10th position in the latest rankings by the Badminton World Federation.

The Olympian Minh was ousted from the ongoing OUE Singapore Open after losing to Indian Srikanth Kidambi in the second round of the men's singles.

The HCM City native secured the fifth spot, his highest ranking to date, in December 2010.

Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia is top of the rankings, followed by Chen Long of China and Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia.

In the women's side, Wang Shixian of China leads, with runners-up Wang Yihan and Li Xuerui also from China.

Gia Lai lose in men's volleyball contest

Viet Nam's Duc Long Gia Lai yesterday lost to Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler of Japan 25-22, 22-25, 26-24, 25-21 in a Group B match at the Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship in the Philippines.

The defeat means the Vietnamese team will not be progressing further in the competition.

It is the first time a Vietnamese club has taken part in an international tournament in which 16 teams participated. The champions will qualify for the Volleyball Men's Club World Championships, to be held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as Asia's representatives.

Female footballers get aid in race to World Cup qualifiers

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has become the official sponsor of the women’s national football team with a hope of helping them gain a ticket to the 2015 Women’s World Cup qualifying round.

The Vietnam Football Federation said from 2014 to 2016, BIDV will provide the team with a maximum of 10 billion VND (476,200 USD) each year for their training and participation in international championships.

In the short term, efforts will be made to help the players show a best possible performance at the Women’s Asian Cup 2014 so as to earn a ticket to the 2015 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

From the third place at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Indonesia in 1997, the national team won a gold at the SEA Games in Malaysia in 2001.

In the past decade, they have proved themselves a capable team in Asia, following only those from Japan, China, Australia, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea .

The team now secure the 28th position in the quarterly FIFA world rankings.

Hanoi finishes atop nationwide pencak silat tournament

The Hanoi team have posted a first place finish at the 2014 National Pencak Silat Championship, which wrapped up in Hai Duong province.

Hanoi took home eight gold and two silver medals. The Vinh Phuc team finished in second with three gold, three silver and four bronze medals, followed by Thanh Hoa with three gold, two silver and one bronze.

The six-day tournament attracted 300 athletes from 39 clubs across the country. They competed for medals in Tanding (combat) and Seni (demonstration) in 12 men’s weight classes and eight women’s weight classes.

The National Pencak silat Championships—held jointly by the General Department of Sports and Physical Training and the Hai Duong provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism—provides a good opportunity for the fighters to hone their skills, gain experience and vie for slots in the national pencak silat team.

Hanoi prevails in National Archery Cup

Hanoi ended up first place at the 17th National Archery Cup that wrapped up in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang on April 10, shooting away with a total of 16 gold, 24 silver and 19 bronze medals.  

Ho Chi Minh followed in second with seven gold and three bronze medals, while the third-place position went to Tra Vinh with five gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

Hanoi’s Le Thi Thu Hien broke the national record in the women’s all-around recurve (one string) discipline, scoring 1,339 points, while Nguyen Thanh Binh from HCM City set a new record in the men’s 90m recurve event with 313 points.

Hundred of archers from across the country participated in the eight-day competition, contending for titles in the men’s and women’s recurve and compound (three strings) events at six different distances of 18m, 30m, 50m, 60m, 70m and 90m.

Those who performed outstandingly at the tournament may be selected for the national archery teams to train for future regional, continental and world competitions.