Vietnam to compete in SEA Karatedo Champs

The national team will participate in the second Southeast Asian Karatedo Championships to be held in the Philippines from April 17–21.

The event is expected to attract more than 200 martial artists representing 11 member nations of the Southeast Asian Karatedo Federation (SEAKF).

The tournament is part of preparations ahead of the 27th SEA Games, scheduled to be hosted by Myanmar in December this year.

Local teens dominate HCM City Asian tennis contest

Teenage Vietnamese tennis players performed strongly at the International Tennis Federation (ITF)'s 14 and Under Division 2 Championship 2013 yesterday, making it to the finals in all four events.

Top seed Nguyen Dac Tien outclassed Tu Minh Tri in the semi-finals in straight sets to set up the final against the other Vietnamese teen, unseeded Nguyen Mau Vinh Quang, who needed a little bit more exertion to tame the third seed Kuah Timothy of Singapore in the other semi-finals.

Meanwhile, in the girls' event, Vietnamese top seed Nguyen Linh Tiffany lived up to fans' expectations by reaching the final.

Tiffany came from one set down to overcome the third seed Vaziri Sadaf Sadegh of Iran 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 to set up the final against the second seed Samarasingh Medhira of Sri Lanka, who beat Al Olifi Shaema in the semi-finals in straight sets.

Vietnamese players also dominated the boys' doubles event, making the final an all-Vietnamese affair with Nguyen Dac Thien and Le Phuoc Dang taking on Tran Gia Huy and Nguyen Mau Vinh Quang.

In the girls' doubles event, Tiffany and Nguyen Thu Phuong went through to the final after beating Nepalese duo Karki Bibhuti and Rana Mayanka in the last four games.

Tiffany and Phuong will face Vaziri Sadaf Sadegh and Al Olifi Shaema today at Phu Tho Tennis Club, District 11, HCM City.

Hoa Sen group sponsors U19 football event

Steel and plastic manufacturing group Hoa Sen would be the main sponsor of the National U19 Football Championships, the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) has confirmed.

Under the contract signed between the group and VFF, this year's event will be known as the "Ton Hoa Sen Cup 2013".

Twenty-three football clubs are taking part in the qualifying round of the tournament, scheduled for January 15-25 and February 24-March 6.

The final stage of the tournament will take place from March 14-23.

The winners will receive a cash prize of VND50 million while the runners-up will pocket VND30 million. The two third placed teams will receive VND20 million each.

Source: VNA/VNS/VOV