Thien ranked 534th in world; Bodybuilders compete in Thailand

Nguyen Hoang Thien.

This is the highest a Vietnamese tennis junior player has risen in the world rankings.

Thien,14, cruised into the quarter-finals of the Rushbrooke International Tennis Federation U-18 tournament in Ireland last month.

Last October, Thien, from HCM City, climbed to the top of the Asian Tennis Federation’s U-14 rankings after winning the ITF Under-18 crown in southern Binh Duong Province.

The 14-year-old also added two singles titles at the Asian U-14 Championships in Bahrain and the Asian Juniors Circuit Tennis Tournament in India.

In a bid to improve his world rankings, the rising star went on a training course with leading American coach Roy Coopersmith, who trained Serbian star Jelena Jankovic in 2006.

Bodybuilders compete in Thailand

The national 16-member body building team will be competing at the Multi Asian Body building and Fitness Championships at the Thai Alangkarn Theatre, Pattaya, Thailand, today.

Two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi My Linh, who was given a one-year ban by the International Body Building Federation that has since be lifted, will also be competing alongside favourite Asian champions Pham Van Mach, Nguyen Van Lam, Dinh Kim Loan.

Linh was banned from competition when her urine sample tested positive for banned substances at the Asian champs in Hong Kong last June. She claimed she took the drug to treat a kidney ailment.

More than 300 body builders from 45 countries are taking part in the one-week event in 38 categories.

The 9th Southeast Asian Body building Championships, originally scheduled for mid-October, have been combined with the Asian Championships to form the Multi Asian Championships – now one of the biggest body building and fitness competitions in the world.

Head coach Huynh Anh said his team would compete in key categories, such as the men’s 60kg and 65kg, the women’s 46kg and 52kg and fitness.

Viet Nam took three golds, two silvers and a bronze medal at the Asian championships last year.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News