Vietnamese women lose in AFC U16

Viet Nam lost to Australia, 0-6, in their opening game at the Asian Football Confederation U16 Women's Championship qualifying round in Malaysia on Saturday.

Five goals were scored in the first half, with Panagiota Petratos and Melina Ayres each pocketing a double and midfielder Adriana Taranto securing the opener. Substitue Grace Maher sealed the 6-0 triumph in the 90th minute.

In the other Group C match, South Korea, the 2009 champion, scored an emphatic double-figure victory over Hong Kong, 11-0. Today Australia take on Hong Kong and South Korea play Viet Nam. A total of 19 participants in the qualifying round were divided into four groups. The winners of each group will advance to the finals to be organised in China in November next year.

Trang, Lim triumph in badminton

Vietnamese Vu Thi Trang and Malaysia's Chi Wing Lim won the women's and men's badminton singles titles at the Kawasaki-Biere Larue Viet Nam International Series.

Trang, who seeded second at the tournament, beat Supamat Mingchua of Thailand 21-23, 21-9, 21-8 to win the women's singles title at Da Nang's Tuyen Son Sports Centre.

Trang and teammate Vu Thi Sen also triumphed in the women's double with a 22-20, 21-15 win over Dang Kim Ngan and Le Thi Thanh Thuy in an all-Vietnamese final on Saturday.

In the men's singles final against Chine Taipei's Chia Hung Lu, Chi Wing Lim, the tournament's seventh seed, had a good start with a 21-19 win in the first set. However, Lu fought back to tie the score in the second set with a 21-11 win.

But Malaysian Lim went out in the third set to win 21-17 and take the men's singles title.

The hosts took the third title when Dao Manh Thang and Pham Nhu Thao beat Chee Tan and Shevon Jemie Lai of Malaysia, 21-14, 21-11 within 25 minutes.

Juan Shen Low and Yew Sin Ong won the men's doubles championships after beating countrymen Jagdish Singh and Wee Long Roni Tan 21-19, 21-13 in an all-Malaysian final yesterday.

The, Phuong win Ha Noi Moi Run

Rainy weather failed to stop thousands of athletes from participating the Ha Noi Moi newspaper's 41st Run for Peace yesterday.

Host Nguyen Ba The overcame many others, including the nation's leading runners, to top the Open category, which was nearly 9km around Hoan Kiem Lake. Soldier Do Quoc Luat of the Border Guard team came in second, followed by his teammate, Bui The Anh.

"I am really surprised as I overcame experienced runners to take the title at the Ha Noi Moi contest for the first time. It will be a strong push to me as well as my team ahead of the National Sport Games, where I am aiming to win a gold medal," said The.

Nguyen Thi Phuong of Thanh Hoa topped the women's 5.2km category, followed by Pham Thi Hue of Quang Ninh and Nguyen Thi Oanh of Bac Giang. The event also lured hundreds of foreigners working and living in the capital. Hugo Page of the United Nations International School won first prize for male expatriates, and Uliana Videneyeva of the Russian Embassy won first prize for female.

U-19 Vietnam ready for challenges at AFC Championship finals

The Vietnam U-19 football team departed for Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on October 5, beginning their fortnight campaign at the finals of the 2014 AFC U-19 Championships from October 9-23.

Vietnam has been drawn in Group C, which is considered a death group with the presence of powerhouses Japan, Republic of Korea (RoK) and China.

The Vietnamese men will play their group-stage opener against RoK opponents on October 9 before taking on Japan and China on October 11 and 13 respectively.

The finals bring together 16 teams divided into four groups competing in a group-stage round robin tournament for eight quarterfinal slots.

The top four finishers at the AFC finals will represent the continent at the World U20 Football Championships, scheduled to take place in New Zealand between May 30 and June 20 next year.

U-19 Vietnam achieved encouraging results at the recent two rehearsals, finishing second at the 2014 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy international football tournament in Brunei in August and the AFF U19 Youth Championship – NutiFood Cup 2014 in Vietnam last month.