Tien Minh to represent country in Denmark Badminton Open; Viet Nam to face Myanmar in Merdeca Cup in Malaysia; HCM City win taekwondo title at national championship

Nguyen Tien Minh.

The sole representative from Viet Nam will meet against strong rivals to compete for his share of US$170,000 in prize money.

Minh, who ranks 21st in the world, is not seeded in the tournament. He will have a bye in the main round. His first rival is Eric Pang from the Netherlands, is currently seeded 31 in the world.

Odense hosted the Denmark Open Super Series for the first time last year in the brand new Fyn Arena. The playing field will be divided into two separate sections for a world class badminton competition.

The tournament includes players from 27 nations.

Viet Nam to face Myanmar in Merdeca Cup in Malaysia

Viet Nam will meet Myanmar in their first round match In football’s Merdeka Cup 2008 on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mai Duc Chung, head coach of the team, has said that the team will play in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He expects they will face many difficulties because the young players, all under 22, do not have much international experience.

Viet Nam are in group B with Myanmar, Mozambique and Bangladesh.

Myanmar are a strong rival who has triumphed in the Cup twice previously.

Group A gathers teams from Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Nepal and host Malaysia.

The winning team will win US$10,000 and the runner-up will take home $5,000.

HCM City win taekwondo title at national championship

HCM City took the title in the National Taekwondo Championship which ended on Tuesday in the southern province of Phu Yen.

HCM City martial artists pocketed six gold, four silver and six bronze medals. Ha Noi followed second in the medal count with 6 golds, three silvers and three bronzes. The People’s Police rounded up the top three with three gold medals.

Experts said that although the number of athletes in this years’ competition was down from last year, their technique and skills were much better in both performance and combat.

“Along with veteran members, we found some new faces who will be added to the national team in preparation for the coming Southeast Asian Games in Laos next year,” said Vu Xuan Thanh, head of the taekwondo department.

“They will receive support from the taekwondo federation to hire a qualified foreign coach who will follow them through the 2012 Olympics in England,” he said.

(Source: Viet Nam News)