Indoor Athletic Competition Hall inaugurated in Hanoi; Ethnic minority sports competition festival opens; National Archery Champs begins in Hanoi; Singapore changes up football squad for Vietnam tournament

The 34,000m2 hall accommodates more than 3,000 seats and consists of several specialized sections for 26 sports such as high-jump, pole-vault, three-step jump, and shot-put. It also has sections for athletes to warming-up and rest and for press conferences.

The hall is multifunctional and meets immediate and long-term demands. It will be used as a venue for the Asian Games to take place in Hanoi this November.

Ethnic minority sports competition festival opens

The 6th national sports competition festival for ethnic minorities, Zone I officially kicked off in the mountainous northern province of Yen Bai on September 18.

The tournament which aims to develop the movement of physical training to improve people’s health and spiritual life has the participation of 650 athletes from 20 provinces.

The athletes are competing in football, cross-country race, volleyball, stick pushing, tug-of-war and crossbow shooting.

In men’s football, Tuyen Quang defeated Yen Bai 5-0, Thai Nguyen crushed Hoa Binh 6-0. In men’s volleyball, Thanh Hoa and Hoa Binh beat Phu Tho and Ha Giang respectively with the same score of 2-0. In women’s volleyball, Ha Giang defeated Yen Bai 2-0.

National Archery Champs begins in Hanoi

The National Archery Championships began in Hanoi on September 18, attracting more than 80 archers from across the country.

The archers will be competing in the men’s and women’s individual and team events of compound (three-string bow) and recurve (one-string bow).

The week-long event is a warm-up exercise for national athletes before they will take part in the 25th Southeast Asian games (SEA Games) to be held in Laos late this year.

Singapore changes up football squad for Vietnam tournament

Singapore has made several major changes to its U21 team scheduled to play at the Thanh Nien-sponsored U21 International Football Tournament next month.

The player list sent to the tournament organizers on Saturday included only four footballers from the team that finished fourth behind Champions Iran, runners-up Thailand and third-placed hosts Vietnam at the same tournament in Hue city last year.

The list included no players from the U19 squad competing in the South East Asian Football Championship in Ho Chi Minh City in last month, although Singapore’s U19 team coach Salim Moin had said his team would play a pivotal role in the U21 sent to the Thanh Nien-sponsored event in Binh Duong.

Almost half of the 20 players were from the S-League club the Young Lions, with some excellent young players from other S-League clubs.

Another big change was in the coaching staff as the Football Association of Singapore has replaced Salim Moin with Sundram Moorthy.

Moorthy coached his U21s to third place behind champion hosts Vietnam and runners-up Thailand at the first international tournament in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa in 2007.

More importantly, the 44-year-old coach helped Singapore’s U23s beat Vietnam 3-2 in the group stage at the 2007 South East Asian Games in Thailand before defeating Vietnam 5-0 again in the fight for third place.

The changes showed that Singapore is serious about contending at this year’s tournament, according to commentators.

This year’s event will take place in the southern province of Binh Duong, just outside Ho Chi Minh City, from October 10-18.

PV