Chess masters check into Germany; VN competes in Asian student games; Nation joins first Youth Olympics; Da Nang make college nat’l finals

Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son.

This year’s Olympiad has seen a record number of 1,520 participants coming from 152 countries and territories in the world.

The Vietnamese team constitutes five men and five women masters including Grand Masters Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Le Quang Liem who grabbed a U18 team gold medal from the World Youth Chess Championship which concluded last week in Viet Nam.

Son is expected to be back in the world’s list of top 20 junior masters after this event.

At the previous Olympiad in Italy two years ago, master Liem secured enough points to be recognised a Grand Master.

VN competes in Asian student games

Viet Nam will compete in the 36th Asian Student Football Championships that kick off in China on November 17.

The Vietnamese team, whose members are mainly made up of students from HCM City Sports Talent School, is coached by Duong Thanh Hoang.

The tournament has attracted participants from 13 countries that play in three groups. Viet Nam are in Group A with South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

The eight best teams will advance to the next round.

In last years’ championships in Thailand, Viet Nam won all five matches in the group round, including a win over South Korea, but didn’t get past quarter-finals.

Viet Nam trounced Thailand 2-1 in 2006 to take the title.

Nation joins first Youth Olympics

Viet Nam will send a squad to compete in the first Youth Olympic Games, which will take place in Singapore from August 14-26, 2010, Viet Nam Olympic Committee’s general secretary, Hoang Vinh Giang said.

The games will include 26 events, mainly summer Olympic sports.

About 5,000 youth aged from 14 to 18 from more than 200 countries and territories will take part in the games. The athlete’s village will be in Nanyang University.

Giang also said he backs the initiative of the International Olympic Committee to create opportunities for young athletes around the world to compete in international events.

Da Nang make college nat’l finals

Da Nang Sports College will meet Water Resource College in the final of the National Students’ Football Championship.

While Da Nang reached the finals after an easy 3-0 win over Agriculture and Forestry College, the Water Resource team only secured their ticket after a penalty shootout, winning 4-3.

The final will be at 3.30pm today at HCM City’s Thong Nhat Stadium and will be broadcast live on VTC1 channel.

The students’ tournament, which is also known as the VTC Cup, kicked off on September 15 with the participation of 100 teams.

They compete in 10 different groups with the best 16 entering the finals.

This year the tournament has seen the biggest prize pool so far, with the winners taking VND50 million. Second and third placed teams will take VND30 million and VND20 million, respectively.

(Source: Viet Nam News)