Women masters to compete in international championships

Vietnamese masters will take part in the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships which will be held towards the end of April in Russia.

The team will also compete in the Southeast Asian Chess Championships which will be held around the same time in Singapore.

The Viet Nam Chess Federation said that the national women's team will be divided in two groups. One team will fly to the Khanty-Mansiysk competition, to be held from April 21 to 29, while the other will travel to Singapore for the event to be held from April 25 to May 4.

Viet Nam are the regional defending champions but are yet to grab the top position in the world.

Viet Nam in Group A at Asian Volleyball Championship

Viet Nam will take part in the Asian Women's Club Volleyball Championship in Nakhonpathom due to be held in Thailand next month.

According to a recent draw in Beijing, Viet Nam has been placed in Group A along with bronze medal holder Japan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and the host nation. Group B features silver medallist Kazakhstan, Singapore, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, and the defending champions, China.

The tournament will commence on April 17 and wrap up eight days later.

Last year, Viet Nam, as the host nation, was represented by national champion Lien Viet Post Bank, who finished fifth overall.

In the men's side, Viet Nam will be in Group B at the 2014 Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship, to be held in Manila from April 8-16, according to the draw by the Asian Volleyball Federation.

The team will compete alongside defending champions Iran, Japan, Lebanon in the group.

Group A consists of the hosts, Iraq, Kuwait and Mongolia. Qatar, Kazakhstan, Oman, Chinese Hong Kong and Turkmenistan are in Group C. Group D comprises Chinese Taipei, China, United Arab Emirates, Papua New Guinea and India.

The men's event has attracted 18 clubs from 18 nations and territories.

HCM City hosts Asia U14 tennis champs

As many as 78 athletes from 16 countries and territories around the globe are competing at the Asia U14 Tennis Championships 2014, which got underway in HCM City on March 17.

Competitors came from strong tennis training venues of China, Taiwan (China), Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and the Republic of Korea.

This is the second consecutive year Vietnam has hosted the ten-day International Tennis Federation (ITF) competition.

Players are competing in singles and doubles events for both men and women on a round robin basis.

The event provides Vietnamese players an opportunity to hone their professional skills and draw experience from strong foreign rivals in preparation for regional and international events.

As scheduled, Vietnam’s male and female tennis teams will take part in the Asia-Pacific junior tennis tournament in India next month.

Nghe An, Ha Noi T&T qualify for semis

Song Lam Nghe An thrashed Becamex Binh Duong 4-0 to win a semi-final berth in the National U-19 Football Championship at Pleiku City's Ham Rong Stadium yesterday.

The win put the central team at the top place of Group B with seven points.

Also played yesterday, Ha Noi T&T drew with Sanatech Khanh Hoa 2-2 to come second in the group and qualify for the semi-final.

Nghe An team, who needed only one point to qualify, completed a convincing win over Binh Duong.

However, striker Nguyen Viet Nguyen helped Nghe An lead at half time with a goal at the last minute.

One minute from the second half time, Van Duc shocked Binh Duong with a quick goal and helped Nghe An dominate the game.

Tuan Tai and Huu Tuan scored two more goals in the fifty seventh and seventy sixth minutes to secure a perfect win for Nghe An.

In the other match, Khanh Hoa's Van Tung and Dinh Khuong netted the ball in the forty second and forty fourth minutes respectively.

However, the coastal team missed their chance of qualifying for the semis when the Ha Noi team tied the game with two goals in the seventy first and seventy sixth minutes by Bui Dinh Son and Hoang Son.

Khanh Hoa regrouped to launch stormy attacks on Ha Noi, but they failed to break through solid defence of the opponent.

In the semis tomorrow, Song Lam Nghe An will play Viettel, while Hoang Anh Gia Lai meet Ha Noi T&T.

The final match will be played at Pleiku Stadium on Friday.

Top triathletes to race in Lang Co

Over 300 athletes will compete in the Laguna Lang Co-Vietnam Airlines Triathlon on March 29, the oragnising committee has announced.

Professionals and amateurs will compete in a 1.8km swim along the beach resort and then cycle 62km through the idyllic Hue countryside before running the final 12km stretch around Laguna's world-class golf course designed by Sir Nick Faldo.

Athletes are expected to take part in four age groups.

Italian Massimo Cigana, who won the men's race last year, will return to defend his title.

Also taking part this time around will be Chris ‘Macca' McCormack, a two-time world ironman champion, and they will be joined by six other male professionals.

The Laguna Lang Co-Vietnam Airlines Triathlon is built on the incredible success of its renowned sister event, the Laguna Phuket triathlon.

Last year, over 200 athletes from the US, France, England, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Japan took part in the race.

Athletes can find more information and registration details for this fantastic occasion by visiting www.lagunalangcotriathlon.com.

Hung Vuong An Giang stuck at bottom

Hung Vuong An Giang (HV An Giang) continued their tenure at the bottom of the provisional standings following a 0-2 loss to Hoang Anh Gia Lai on March 16 at Pleiku Stadium, Gia Lai Province.

HV An Giang were considered significant underdogs coming into the match, and they played defensively for large portions of the game, stymying the host team’s efforts to reach their goal.

In the second half, the guests played with more confidence, but were ultimately unable to convert their efforts into goals.

In the 78th minute, Timothy opened the scoring for Hoang Anh Gia Lai with a skillful strike. The hosts extended the lead to 2-0 when Timothy completed his brace in the 88th minute.

The 2-0 victory helped Hoang Anh Gia Lai remain in fifth position.

In another match played yesterday, Becamex Binh Duong crushed QNK Quang Nam 5-2 with goals scored by Mosses (in the 20th minute), Abass (33’), Huynh Kesle (50’), Suleiman (72’) and Anh Duc (75’).

On Saturday, Vicem Hai Phong defeated Quang Ninh Coal 3-0 to jump from sixth to third on 12 points, while Dong Tam Long An were held to a 1-1 home draw by Dong Nai to remain in 12th position.

Quang Ninh Coal held onto second position in the provisional standings with 14 points, and Dong Nai is currently ranked 10th with 7 points.