Vietnam targets to be in top three at Para Games; DPRK beat Vietnam 6-0; Vietnam bags second gold at Asian Martial Arts Games;

More than 1,200 athletes from 11 Southeast Asian countries will compete in 11 sport events for around 1,500 sets of medals at the 2009 Para Games, due to be held in Malaysia from August 15-19.

Vietnam will send a team of 121 members including 91 athletes who were selected from the National Sport Competition for the Disabled in Quang Tri. They will compete in track and field, swimming, table tennis, badminton, weightlifting, chess and rowing.

In previous participations, Vietnam ranked second three times in 2001, 2003, 2005 and stood third in 2007 with only one medals less than the runner-up.

The Vietnam team is scheduled to depart for Malaysia on August 12.

DPRK beat Vietnam 6-0

The Vietnam U-19 women’s football squad offcially said goodbye to the U19 Asian Women’s Football Championship after having been lost 0-6 to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in their second match of group A in Wuhan, China on August 5th.

Although Vietnamese girls began the match with a strong will and determination, they couldn’t earn a satisfactory result against much stronger rivals like the DPRK. Vietnam lost six goals in the 6th, 16th, 22nd, 31st, 67th and 88th minutes respectively.

In another match in group A, the Republic of Korea (RoK) crushed Thailand 5-0. As a result, the DPRK and the RoK has qualified for the semi-finals. Vietnam will play against Thailand in the final match to compete for the third position in group A.

In group B, Japan trounced Chinese Taipei 5-0 while hosts China booked a berth in the semi-final after having beaten Australia 2-1.

Vietnam bags second gold at Asian Martial Arts Games

Wushu artists secured the second gold medal for Vietnam in the fourth day of competition at the on-going Asian Martial Arts Games in Thailand on August 5th.

With their outstanding performances, Nguyen Huy Thanh, Tran Duc Trong, Tran Xuan Hiep won 9,55 points, surpassing martial artists from India (9,15 points) and Sri Lanka (9 points) to snatch a gold in the men’s team demonstration event.

Also the same day, Nguyen Thi Huyen grabbed a silver in taekwondo, women’s Under 59kg category.

Vietnam currently ranks eighth with two golds, two silvers anf four bronzes.

PV