Top sprinters Vu Thi Huong and Le Thi Ngoc Phuong qualified for the semi-finals at the Asian Athletics Championship in Guangdong, China on November 10.

Making tracks: Sprinter Vu Thi Huong qualifies for the semis at the Asian Athletics Championship in China on November 10.

Top sprinter Huong, who broke her own national record at the National Championship in HCM City in September in 11.43 seconds, is aiming to finish under 11.40sec in today’s race.

Last year, the Thai Nguyen-born athlete failed to qualify for the Olympic semi-finals after finishing eighth, with a time of 11,70secs, in the quarter-finals in Beijing.

Huong’s personal best is 11.33, set at the Asian Athletic Championships two years ago. The two Vietnamese athletes will compete against 14 other athletes including power-houses Fukushima Chasato of Japan, Tao Yu Jia from China and Indonesian Manjunath Jyothi Hiriyur for a place in the final.

Racing in the women’s 400m, Vietnamese Nguyen Thi Thuy, 18, failed to qualify for the semi-final, finishing seventh in a time of 57.77.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Dinh Cuong also failed to take a second round spot in the men’s 1,500 with a time of 4:03.03.

Vietnamese athlete Truong Thanh Hang will also compete in the women’s 1,500m final today.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News