298 Vietnamese members register for ASIAD

The General Department of Sports and Physical Training on August 15 revealed 298 candidates have signed up to participate in the 17th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Incheon, the Republic of Korea (RoK).

This year, the national team is targeting to win 2-3 gold medals in the competition taking place over 16 days from September 18 to October 4. The team’s best chances for medals lie in track-and-field, weightlifting, gymnastics, shooting and swimming.

The final selection for the national delegation is scheduled for next week. A deputy head of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training will lead the delegation comprised of 199 athletes and 57 coaches.

The Vietnamese team will compete in 21 sports including taekwondo, weightlifting, karate, bodybuilding, wushu, billiards, sepak takraw, canoeing, rowing, chess, cycling, fencing, judo, shooting, wrestling, boxing, gymnastics, table-tennis, football, badminton, tennis, golf and volleyball.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai fire coach

Choi Yoon Gyum was the latest coach fired from the V-League.

The South Korean lost his job with the former champions Hoang Anh Gia Lai following the club's poor performance during the V-League, which concluded last weekend.

Nguyen Tan Anh, an official of Hoang Anh Gia Lai, has confirmed the news on vnexpress.net.

Choi came to the team in 2011, but failed to stake out his presence here. Hoang Anh Gia Lai went up and down in the three years he was in charge and they stood at ninth place this season, the worst in the team's history.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai have not released information about Choi's successor.

Tien Minh drops ten notches in world badminton rankings

Nguyen Tien Minh slid down ten spots to 30th position in the latest world badminton rankings released by the Badminton World Federation on August 15.

In comparison with the previous ranking, the Vietnamese superstar plunged 6,000 points. He now has a total point score of only 37,730.

Minh suffered the steepest drop of any top 50 world men’s singles player.

First, second and third positions went to Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia), Chen Long (China) and Jan Jorgensen (Denmark) respectively.

Can Tho defeated Hung Vuong An Giang 3-0 on Saturday to secure their return to the V-League 2015 for the first time in 20 years.

Hoang Hai Duong scored the game's first goal, a close-range header, in the first half of the play-off match held at Go Dau Stadium in Binh Duong Province. Teammate Souleymante Diabate scored the second goal 12 minutes into the second half while Belibi Celstin Didier sealed the win with a penalty kick at the 63rd minute.

"We were surprised but quite happy with the victory today because with it, we can return to the V-League for the first time after 20 years," Nguyen Thanh Danh, Can Tho's coach, told reporters at the post-match news conference.

Asked about Can Tho's ability to stay in the V-League next year, Danh said the club had the resources and capability to do well next season.

Duan stays on top in cycling tour

Tour leader Le Van Duan of HCM City completed a hat-trick to emerge victorious in the fourth stage of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Cycling Tour yesterday.

The victory kept Duan, who clocked two hours and 5.39 minutes during the 88km stage from Ha Tien Town to Rach Gia City, at the top of the rankings with a total time of 10 hours and 16.52 minutes. He will continue wearing the yellow jersey in the next stage.

He is also leading the race for the tour's best athlete with 83 points after the fourth stage.Do Tuan Anh of Domesco Pharmacy Dong Thap is in second place in both the stage and overall races.

Dong Thap was the best team,with a time of 30 hours and 51.54 minutes, followed by Vinh Long and Hat Ngoc Troi. The tour continues on the 128km route from Rach Gia to Ca Mau City today.

Viet Nam needs a win over Cambodia in the last group round match today to enter the semi-finals of the ASEAN Youth Football Championship in Brunei.

Viet Nam currently ranks third in Group B, with seven points after two wins, one draw and one loss. Malaysia and Cambodia, which both have 10 points, are sharing the top two positions.

In case of winning today, Viet Nam will have to score as many goals as possible to become a semi-finalist.

Coach Guilaume Graechen, however, remains confident about his chance, saying that he would put into play his best players for today's game.

Thu receives Golden Whistle

Nguyen Trong Thu has been voted the best referee in Viet Nam for the 2013- 14 season, according to the Viet Nam Footall Federation.

Thu won 111 ballots to take the Golden Whistle, leaving his rivals Vo Vinh Quang (63) and Hoang Anh Tuan (15) far behind in the race to the title.

This is the second year in a row that Thu has received the award.

Pham Manh Long was the best referee assistant with 123 ballots. He previously received this honour five times.

FIFA rankings see VN plummet to 139th in August

Viet Nam national football team dropped 10 steps to No 139 in the world as listed in the FIFA's August ranking.

The country are No 21st in the Asia and second in ASEAN region.

World top three are Germany, Argentina and the Netherlands. Japan are No 1 in Asia, Iran and Uzbekistan are runners-up.

The Philippines are strongest in Southeast Asia with the third place goes to Singapore.

Viet Nam hold Brunei to draw at ASEAN youth champs

Viet Nam held Brunei to a 2-2 draw in the fourth round of the ASEAN Youth Football Championship for the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy in Brunei yesterday.

Striker Nguyen Phong Hong Duy netted the first goal for Viet Nam in the 10th minute. The goal is the second scored by Duy, who nabbed his first goal of the tournament against Indonesia on Wednesday.

Viet Nam controlled possession of the ball, while a struggling Brunei found it difficult to mount offensives against their visiting rival.

However, the hosts managed to convert an opportunity at the 36th minute, with Vietnamese goal keeper Nguyen Van Toan failing to defend the net.

Striker Hoang Thanh Tung hit back in the 50th minute, scoring a second goal for Viet Nam after a skilful steal from Cong Phuong.

A reported physical advantage showed as host players out-muscled their Vietnamese rivals in one-on-one clashes. This was followed up by a lively second half performance by the hosts.

A narrow miss at the 69th minute robbed Viet Nam of an opportunity to consolidate their lead.

Striker Adi Said responded in the 75th minute with a victorious one-on-one joust with Viet Nam's keeper.

The draw will see both teams share an equal opportunity to progress to the semi-final round, whereby Viet Nam will need to topple Cambodia in its final match next Monday.

U19 Viet Nam has defeated Singapore 4-0, lost to Malaysia 0-2 and toppled Indonesia 3-1 in its earlier Group B matches.