Kayumov to coach chess team

The Viet Nam Chess Federation has signed a contract with Dmitriy Kayumov to coach the national team.

Following the deal, the Uzbekistan Grandmaster will work until the end of the year before coaching the team in the lead up to the 18th Asian Games to be held in Viet Nam in 2019.

The deal will see Dmitriy, 65, bring his many years of coaching experience to the role. Under his charge, the Uzbekistan men's team won the Asian title in 1996 and 1998 and came third at the 32nd Olympiad in 1996.

He later worked with Qatar for seven years from 2000 to 2007 before he returned home to become a private coach.

Two years ago his little athlete FM Abdusattorov Nodirbek won the world crown for the under-8 competitors.

Ciputra challenge attracts 300

The Ciputra Hanoi-Yonex Sunrise Vietnam International Challenge will be held from March 25-30 at Cau Giay Gymnasium.

The annual event, endorsed by the Badminton World Federation and Badminton Asia Confederation, will have five categories – singles and doubles matches for men and women, and mixed doubles.

Organisers said nearly 300 athletes of 13 teams including hosts Viet Nam will compete in the event.

World No 9 Nguyen Tien Minh is the top men's singles seed. It is the second time that he is taking part in one of the two richest tournaments organised in Viet Nam.

Malaysia's Chun Seang Tan, world No 50, and Tzu Wei Wang, No 67, of Chinese Taipei are second and third seeds.

In the women's draw, Chia Hsin Lee of Chinese Taipei, Hana Ramadhini of Indonesia and Viet Nam's Le Thu Huyen are the top three seeds, respectively.

The winners will walk away with up to 4,000 points to strengthen their world ranking.

Last year, Malaysian Kwong Beng Chan and Hana Ramadhini of Singapore took the men's and women's singles titles.

Badminton fans can watch the matches for free at the stadium. The matches will also be aired live on local television channels.

Gold haul puts Da Nang ahead

Southeast Asian Games gold medallist Hoang Quy Phuoc bagged three gold medals - two individual and one team – to help Da Nang lead the National Short-Course Swimming and Finswimming Championship at the Thua Thien-Hue Aquatic Sports Centre yesterday.

At the end of the day, Da Nang's medal tally stood at three gold, one silver and one bronze. HCM City were second with three golds and Hai Phong in third with one gold, one silver and one bronze.

Phuoc, 21, finished first in the men's 200m freestyle with at time of 1 minute 52.72 seconds, beating Long An's Pham Thanh Nguyen and Tran Tan Trieu.

A time of 57.68sec got him gold in the 100m backstroke and a convincing finish in the men's team 400m freestyle relay with his teammates yesterday morning accounted for his third gold medal.

HCM City's Nguyen Thi Kim Tuyen also bagged two individual golds and a team gold on the opening day.

She won the 100m backstroke in 1:5.43 and dominated the 200m butterfly event, winning in 2:17.88, 5.48sec ahead of Vo Thi Hong Tho from Da Nang.

Tuyen and her teammates then clocked the 800m freestyle relay at 8:53.81, ahead of Quang Ninh and Da Nang.

The national championship, which has drawn 76 athletes from 13 teams competing for 24 medal sets, will close on Sunday.

The finswimming event closed last Sunday with Ha Noi's athletes netting six gold, three silver and nine bronze medals.

AFC Cup 2014: Vissai Ninh Binh fortify Group G top lead

Vissai Ninh Binh’s 3-2 victory over Malaysia’s Kelantan on March 18 made them the only team in AFC 2014 to take three consecutive wins.

The win at the Sultan Mohammad IV Stadium yesterday also cemented Ninh Binh’s top position in Group G with nine points.

Defending Vietnam’s National Super Cup, Ninh Binh entered the game confidently with Kavin Bryan netting the opener after only 24 minutes.

Malaysia’s Mohd Ali's red card in the 34th minute should have made ​​the game easier for Ninh Binh but the score was equalised after Ahmad Nazri converted a free kick. Then, Rosli easily put Kelantan ahead with another goal in the 45th minute.

However, the game quickly switched around two minutes later when Rosli was given the home team’s second red card for his foul against Sim Woon Sub.

Now, nine-man Kelantan were no match for Ninh Binh’s attacks. In the 50th and 62nd minutes, Tambwe and Voinea respectively netted another two goals for Ninh Binh, helping the team come from behind to earn three points.

Coach Nguyen Van Sy’s team is now solid at the top of Group G with nine points, three more than Yangon United.

Vietnam’s other representative at the AFC Cup, reigning V-League champions Hanoi T&T, are to face runners-up of Malaysia Super League, Selangor, in their third game at the Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi on March 19.

Hanoi T&T temporarily lead in Group F with six points while Selangor rank 2nd with two points.