Vietnamese female wrestler Van Ngoc Tu won the first gold medal for Vietnam in the kurash event at the fourth Asian Beach Games which is being held in Phuket, Thailand from November 14-23.

At the women's U52kg category, Tu defeated Deepudsa from Thailand in the semi-final round and then trounced Chen Chin Ying from Taiwan (China) in the final round to pocket the gold.

This is the second time this year she has championed at the Asian tournaments. Earlier she brought home a gold medal from the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games (AIMAG-4) in Incheon, the Republic of Korea.

Vietnam currently ranks 10th at the 4th ABG with 1 gold, 2 silvers and nine bronzes.

Long An, RoK squads make it to finals

Dong Tam Long An defeated SHB Danang 2-1 on November 14 to enter the final match of the Binh Duong Television International Football Tournament-Number One Cup.

Souleymane Diabate opened the scoring in the first half, later creating the opportunity for teammate Rafael dos Santos Lima to score, as it was 2-0 for Long An.

Da Nang's Ho Ngoc Thang, however, narrowed the score after a successful penalty kick. But it was too late to make a difference in the match.

In tomorrow's final, Long An will face South Korean University Selection Team, which defeated Brazilian Sport Clube Capixaba 4-3 after a penalty shootout.

Earlier, Da Nang are scheduled to play Sport Clube Capixaba in the third-place playoff match at the Binh Duong Province's Go Dau Stadium.

Vietnam excels at Nanning chess event

Five out of nine Vietnamese participants won prizes at the recent Nanning-ASEAN Board and Card Games International Chess Invitation Tournament 2014 in China.

Vu Tuan Nghia took the lead among 16 outstanding players from nations and territories such as Malaysia, Cambodia and China’s Macau.

An unpopular player, Nghia from Binh Phuoc province, is 41 years old and often performs well in traditional Chinese chess festivals in the northern region.

The tournament’s individual category was divided into the overseas group and the open group.

This year’s tournament ran from November 6-10.

In previous tournaments, Vietnam also achieved great results with Tran Tuan Ngoc and Vo Minh Nhat as title-holders in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Dong Thap find sponsorship for V-League return

Dong Thap will return to the V-League next year after the club were forced to quit this season's competition earlier this month due to lack of funding.

According to Dong Thap Province's People's Committee, Hong Quang Work Construction & Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company will be the new sponsor for the team next year, and the company will buy the club's VND15 billion (US$714,000) debt.

Dong Thap used to be the leading club in the western region. They won the national championships in 1989 and 1996 and provided a number of players for the national team.

With Dong Thap's return, the V-League will have 14 teams for the 2015 season.

Futsal team winless in Brazil invitational tournament

Viet Nam lost to Costa Rica, 1-3, in a battle for fifth place at the International Futsal Grand Prix in Brazil.

It was the third loss for the Southeast Asian representative, which fell to sixth and last place at the invitational tournament.

Exhausted after two previous games, Vietnamese players failed to apply their tactics during the match. Personal mistakes were attributed to the loss, where all goals were scored in the second half.

The semi-finals saw hosts Brazil trouncing Guatemala, 6-2, and Colombia beating Iran, 4-3. Brazil will face Colombia in the final match early this morning.

S Korean students win Binh Duong Television Cup

South Korean University Selection Team beat Dong Tam Long An of Viet Nam 2-1 to take the Binh Duong Television International Football Tournament cup yesterday.

In the third-place play-off match at the Go Dau Stadium earlier, Brazilian Sport Clube Capixaba defeated SHB Da Nang 2-1 to secure the bronze medal.

The 15th tournament, which is also known as the Number One Cup, featured eight teams divided into two groups.

The winners walked away with VND450 million (US$21,500). 

VOV/VNS