Minh through to world champs; Viet Nam win regional tourney; VTV Cup promises to be best yet

Nguyen Tien Minh.

Viet Nam’s sole representative is Nguyen Tien Minh, who has won a bye to the next round.

The world No 9, who is the 14th seed at the tournament, won a bye when his opponent Czech Petr Koukal withdrew because of injury.

Minh, who is the first Vietnamese player to make it into the world top ten, will play the winner of the match between Brice Leverdez of France and Henrik Toth of Hungary.

Minh lost in the first round 22-20, 11-21, 17-21 to Simon Santoro of Indonesia last year.

Viet Nam win regional tourney

Viet Nam won the Southeast Asian Judo Championships, which closed in Vientiane on weekend.

Viet Nam were without three key fighters who were attending the Asian Martial Arts Games in Thailand.

Vietnamese rivals pocketed 11 golds, four silvers and one bronze medal. Hosts Laos were second with three golds, three silvers and 18 bronzes, followed by Myanmar, who grabbed two golds, four silvers and two bronze medals.

VTV Cup promises to be best yet

The international volleyball tournament – VTV Cup will see the participation of six rivals, including two local and four foreign teams, on August 15-22 in the highland province of Dac Lac.

Viet Nam Federation of Volleyball general secretary Tran Duc Phan said this year’s tournament would be the most competitive in its six-year history.

It will be the first appearance of Viet Nam’s head coach Augusto, who began coaching the national team for the December’s SEA Games.

Champions Binh Dien Long An will defend their title without three key players – Dinh Thi Dieu Chau, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa and Nguyen Thi Kim Lien, who are representing the national team.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News