Vietnam wins five bronze medals at SEA tennis champs

Vietnamese players have brought home five bronze medals from the 2013 Southeast Asian Tennis Championships held in the Thai capital Bangkok over November 22–25.

The medalists were Dai Trang, Minh Quan, Tam Hao, Le Quoc Khanh, and Lam Quang Tri.

Trang won two women’s singles bronze medals after losing 0-2 to Thailand’s Nungnadda Wannasuk and Lertpitaksinchai Nicha, seeded first at the tournament.

Trang and teammate Tam Hao also settled for bronze in the women’s doubles, defeated by the Indonesian duo Tammi and Efrilia.

Quan’s loss to Thai player and tournament second seed Warit Sornbutnark placed him third in the men’s singles.

HCM City pair Quoc Khanh and Quang Tri secured Vietnam’s fifth bronze medal. They were beaten 0-2 by Thailand’s Isarow and Kadchapana in their men’s doubles match.

Vietnam represented at Macau Badminton Open

Vietnam’s Pham Nhu Thao and Le Thu Huyen are competing at the 2013 Macau International Open Championships, running from November 26–December 12.

Thao and Huyen, both born in 1996 and members of Hanoi’s Ciputra badminton club, are eager to test their skills against the strong field of opponents the tournament’s US$120,000 prize pool attracts.

The Macau International Open is part of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) Grand Prix Gold.

The two Vietnamese players are competing in the women’s singles and doubles events. Huyen (ranked 137th in the world) will face off against the Republic of Korea’s Kim Hyo Min (ranked 76th). Thao (ranked 280th) will challenge Taiwanese athlete Chen Shih Ying (ranked 452nd).

The duo is anticipating an easy road into the next round of the doubles competition after reaching the semifinals at the recent Malaysia Challenge Cup. They are drawn against a Thai pair ranked 58th in the world.

Nam wins Yucatan Cup first round

Viet Nam's Ly Hoang Nam defeated Jake Devine of the US 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in the first round of the Yucatan Cup tennis tournament in Mexico yesterday.

The national champion, who is seeded No 11, will next meet with Riki Oshima of Japan in the second round today. Qualifier Oshima beat Alan Nunez Aguilera of Mexico 6-2, 6-2.

Nam is on his way to collecting enough points to break into the world junior top 50 who qualify to compete in the main round of the Australian Open's junior category in January.