U23 Vietnam’s victory over Nay Pyi Taw

Vietnam’s U23 squad has beaten the Nay Pyi Taw team of Myanmar, which was the runner-up of the Myanmar football championships, in a pre-SEA Games match on October 13.

The single goal was made by striker Phi Son from a corner kick in the 34th minute ò the first half. But his squad failed to win any more goals.

Vietnam will play Myanmar on October 15 before facing its selected team at the coming 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Pre-SEA Games matches are a good opportunity for local players to horn their professional skills before joining the largest sports event of the region.

Vietnam to join 2013 world junior badminton champs

Young player Pham Cao Cuong, seeded No.18 in the world, will represent Vietnam at the 2013 World Junior Badminton Championships due to open in Thailand on October 23.

Cuong, 17, will face strong rivals from 32 countries and territories around the world.

Five countries in Southeast Asia will join the champs, including Vietnam, Indonesia. Singapore, the Philippines and the host Thailand.

Vietnam joins Asian Cup final round

Vietnam is scheduled in the list of 16 teams entering the U19 Asian Cup’s final round scheduled for Myanmar in late 2014.

Among the four representatives of Southeast Asia are Indonesia and Vietnam, which have performed most impressively in the qualifying matches of groups F and G.

The top nine include Qatar, UAE, Iraq, Iran, Oman, Indonesia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, and six runners-up are China, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Uzbekistan, Thailand and Yemen.

A draw will be held in May 2014 to place them in members of different groups which are scheduled to compete five months later.

Four best teams will represent Asia in the final round of the U20 world championships in 2015.

U21 Vietnam defeat Myanmar in opening match

Vietnam has won a 2-0 victory over Myanmar in the opening match of the 2013 U21 international football tournament sponsored by Thanh Nien (Youth) Newspaper, which kicked off in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan on October 13. 

Striker Dinh Bao opened the scoring in the 17th minute of the first half. The Vietnamese squad continued with their attack tactics but failed to strike more goals into the rival net. They had to wait until the end of the second half when Ho Sy Sam successfully made the second goal.

Currently, Vietnam is placed second after U21 Sydney FC which has trounced Singapore 4-1.

This year’s competition attracted five teams from Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Australia, and host Vietnam. They are competing on a round robin format to select the best four teams for the final round.

The winner will be awarded a cash prize of US$12,000, while the first and second runner-up will receive US$7,000 and US$5,000, respectively.

The organizing board will also have awards for the best footballer, the best goal-keeper, the best referee, and the fair-play title winner.

The tourney will last until October 23.

Thi lands two golds for An Giang

Nguyen Thi Thi helped An Giang claim two gold medals in the women's 76km road race yesterday at the national cycling championships in Ba Ria Vung Tau.

After nearly 60km, Thi, Vo Bich Lan and Le Thanh Hien broke away from the pack to lead the race, with the three riders jostling for first place. Thi was the eventual winner, crossing the finish line with a time of 1:58:25.

Thi's achievement helped An Giang claim the event's team gold medal.

The tournament will continue today with four events: the men's and women's 500m sprints, the men's 4km time trial and the women's 3km time trial.

Military win wrestling champs

The Military Zone team took top place at the National Wrestling Championships which closed in Thua Thien-Hue yesterday.

The soldiers and athletes dominated with nine gold, six silver and seven bronze medals.

Ha Noi, who were missing some of their strongest wrestlers through injury, came second with five golds, two silvers and seven bronzes.

Ha Nam finished third after grabbing two golds and two bronzes.

VN set for Malaysia Futsal face-off

Viet Nam will play Malaysia in the opening match of the ASEAN Futsal (indoor football) Championship's group A which kicks off on Saturday in Bangkok, Thailand.

The tough group A will also see participants from Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei.

In group B, Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar and East Timor will compete against each other.

Teams will compete in a round robin competition with the best two entering the semi-finals.

Thailand, the defending champions, are the strongest team in the region and expected to take the first ticket to the next round.

The ASEAN championship which closes on October 28 will also serve as the qualifying venue for the Asian Football Confederation level tourney next year.

The three teams who perform best at the October tournament will be selected to join Thailand who have a confirmed their berth after winning the 2012 championships.

HCM City clinch Chinese chess title

HCM City dominated the National Team Xiangqi (Chinese chess) Championships which closed in Can Tho Province on Saturday.

The city won three of the four gold medals on offer at the six-day tournament featuring the strongest players nationwide.

They romped to victory in the men's and women's blitz, as well as the women's classic event.

Ha Noi came second after securing a gold in the men's classic pool. They also pocketed two silvers and one bronze medal.

Binh Dinh finished third with one silver and one bronze.

This year's national tournament lured more than 160 athletes, from 18 cities and provinces.

Masters – who rank from first to 32nd place on the men's side and down to 16th on the women's – qualified to take part in the 2014 National First Division Championships.