VN's top chessman drops two places in world ranking

Top Vietnamese chess player Le Quang Liem has dropped two places to No 38 in the June's rankings of 2700chess.com.

The web ranking is similar to the World Chess Federation's calculation.

The world blitz champion's Elo dropped by 2.2 points to stand at 2709.8, even though he and his teammates won three bronze medals in team events in the blitz, rapid and standard events at the Asian National Cup in Iran.

Coach predicts World Cup outcome

Phan Thanh Hung, a Vietnamese top coach, has made some predictions about the FIFA World Cup 2014, the most anticipated global football event that is held every four years.

This is the second time Brazil have staged a World Cup. The first one went back to 1950. The tournament, which will kick off on June 12, has brought together the best players from 32 best football teams representing 32 countries.

One month after the kick-off day, the champion will be determined in the final match scheduled to take place on July 13 at the Estadio de Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

The individual awards for the most valuable players of the tournament, the best scorer and the best goalkeeper will be made known.

Viet Nam News talked with Hung to find out which teams and players would eventually win these accolades.

Ha Noi T&T's coach said that he felt excited before the tournament because it is the world's top-flight football showdown.

"I am eager for the competition to kick off because this is the finest and biggest stage of world football, bringing together the best players and best teams from all over the world," Hung said.

Hung is one of only three local coaches to have won two V-League titles with a club. The two others are coach Le Huynh Duc with SHB Da Nang and veteran coach Le Thuy Hai with Becamex Binh Duong.

Hung said that at the moment it was hard to say which teams will be likely to win the World Cup this year because the tournament has yet to take place. But from what happened in the past football season, he singled out Spain, Germany, Argentina and Italy as potential winners.

"Because I have not been busy with my team and have not seen how teams play, it's difficult to say which teams are the favourites to win," the 54-year-old Da Nang native said, adding that the contenders would gradually emerge during the group stage.

"Given that the gap among teams has become smaller and smaller, the tournament promises tight and more even matches. However, I think the race for the coveted trophy remains a battle between the football powerhouses from Europe and South America."

"The individual awards will also go to the players from the two regions," he added.

The World Cup will kick off on June 12 with the only match between the hosts Brazil and Croatia in the opening match of Group A at the Arena Sao Paulo in Sao Paulo.

Four years ago, Spain won the World Cup for the first time after beating Netherlands 1-0 in the final, after the one and only goal, scored by Andre Iniesta, was recorded in extra time.

Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan was voted as the best player, Germany's striker Thomas Muller received the best young player, and the best goalkeeper award belonged to Spanish keeper Iker Casillas.

The top score awards were shared by four players, Diego Forlan, Thomas Muller, Wesley Sneijder and David Villa, who each had five goals.

Eight teams to vie for Larue Cup

Eight qualifying futsal teams from Ca Mau, Binh Dinh, Quang Nam, Quang Tri and Da Nang will compete for the Larue Cup on June 9-10.

Held on the east banks of the Han River in Da Nang City, the tournament pits the teams in two groups with the top two teams after round-robin matches within each group contesting the semi-final.

Tournament winners will get a cash prize of VND100 million (US$4,800), while the runner-up and third place finisher will get VND50 million ($2,400) and VND30 million ($1,400) respectively. The fourth-ranked team will be given VND20 million ($952).

Da Nang yesterday hosted the qualifying rounds for the tournament, in which nearly 100 teams participated.

Viet Nam to participate in Asian volleyball event

Viet Nam will take part in the 10th Asian Girls' U17 Volleyball Championship to be held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, from October 11 to 19.

A total of 14 teams have confirmed their participation in the event.

According to the draw, hosts Thailand are in Group A with Hong Kong and New Zealand, while Group B comprises defending champions Japan, Kazakhstan and Viet Nam. World champions China, India, Australia and the Philippines are in Group C, with Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Turkmenistan and Iran in Group D.

The group round-robin preliminaries will be held from October 11 to 13.

Only the top two teams from each group after the preliminaries will advance to the last-eight round, while the teams which finish in third and fourth places will be relegated to the 9th to 14th classification round.

The top four teams in this championship will make the cut for next year's 20-team FIVB Girls' U18 World Championship.