National Shooting Tournament opens

The 16th National Shooting Tournament opened at the National Sports and Physical Training Centre in Hanoi on June 3.

The event is organised by the Vietnam Shooting Federation, in coordination with the Vietnamese General Department of Sports and Physical Training.

The tournament has attracted 100 shooters from 8 units from Hai Phong, Military, Thanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Ministry of Public Security, Vinh Phuc and Hanoi and they will compete in 14 events.

The tournament will last until June 9.

200 players compete in National Youth Rapid and Blitz Chess Champs

The 2011 National Youth Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships opened in Ho Chi Minh City on June 3.

The event attracted nearly 200 chess players from 20 cities and provinces across the country, including such famous names as Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Le Quang Long and Dao Thien Hai.

The players competed in the women’s and men’s singles, women’s and men’s team events.

Lam Minh Chau, coach of the Vietnam National Chess team, said the event this year aims to choose the best chess players to compete in the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia.

The Youth Rapid and Blitz tournament will last until June 8.

Vietnam announces Olympic and national football squads

The Vietnam Football Federation has officially announced the lists of the national and Olympic football squads for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers and 2012 London Olympics.

The federation appointed coaches Mai Duc Chung and Phan Thanh Hung to take interim charge of the national and Olympic men’s football teams, respectively.

The teams will attend a two-week training session at HCM City’s Thanh Long Sports Centre from June 13 to July 4.

Federation Vice Chairman Nguyen Lan Trung said Chung and Hung will take up the posts which have been vacant since March following the departure of Portuguese coach Henrique Calisto.

Trung said the federation had been negotiating with a German coach to take charge of the national team later this month.

Young players dominated the national and Olympic teams during the first training session of the year.

The 25-member national team includes 10 under-23 players while the Olympic team has 10 players aged 20-21.

T&T ready for Da Nang grudge match

Ha Noi T&T’s head coach Phan Thanh Hung promised that his team would go out with guns blazing in the V-League’s 16th-round game against SHB Da Nang at Chi Lang this weekend.

“We will still play football as we have done since the beginning of the season. Although Da Nang are always a favourite at home, our goal is to leave Chi Lang with at least one point,” said Hung, who has just taken interim charge of the Olympic team.

The encounter becomes the centre of attention not only because both clubs are owned by the same boss, Bui Quang Hien, but the result of the match also plays an important role in the title race this season.

Da Nang, with 31 points, are only four points behind leaders Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) and defending champions Ha Noi T&T have few opportunities to defend their title, as they are 11 points behind.

If Da Nang get points against Ha Noi T&T, and SLNA do not achieve three points against home team Hoa Phat Ha Noi, the 2009 champions will be able to reduce the gap with SLNA to one or two points.

In addition, there are rumours that Ha Noi T&T will help Da Nang in the race with SLNA but Ha Noi-based team’s head coach Phan Thanh Hung has other ideas.

“We are not completely out of the title race, so we will fight every match,” he said, adding that the job at the Olympic team does not affect his job at the club.

The defending champions’ gap with SLNA can be just eight points if Ha Noi T&T leave Chi Lang Stadium with three points and SLNA leave Hang Day Stadium empty-handed.

The relegation battle is back in the spotlight once again after Dong Tam Long An’s vital victory over Khatoco Khanh Hoa last Sunday, meaning the bottom-placed team has narrowed the gap with fellow struggler Ha Noi ACB to two points.

Long An with 14 points stand a good chance to lift themselves out of the bottom place if they beat 12th-placed Ninh Binh at home because it is very likely that Hoang Anh Gia Lai will defeat Ha Noi ACB at Pleiku city in an early fixture today.

The other struggler Khanh Hoa, which rank 11th with 18 points, will take on touch opponent Becamex Binh Duong at Nha Trang.

Other fixtures are Lam Son Thanh Hoa and Navibank Sai Gon today and out-of-form Dong Thap and Hai Phong, which scored a victory last week over leaders SLNA.

Martial artists fail to strike gold

Vietnamese martial artists won silver and six bronze medals at the third Indonesian Open Karate Championships which wrapped up in Jakarta on Thursday.

The silver went to Nguyen Quang Phuc in the men’s 55kg category.

Sixteen out of 19 gold medals went to Indonesia, the remaining belonged to Malaysia.

The competition, touted as a test for the upcoming 26th Southeast Asian Games, featured participants from 10 countries including Australia and Iran and excluding Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

Following the Indonesian event, Vietnamese martial artists are set to compete in the South Korean and Turkey Opens during June and July.

Riders set for mountain bike challenge

Viet Nam will participate in the 17th Asian Mountain Bike Championships and the third Asian Junior Mountain Bike Championships kicked off in China on June 10.

The events, which will last until June 12, have attracted 15 teams.

Viet Nam will compete in downhill and cross-country disciplines at both events.

According to the team’s training board, the events will provide good opportunities for Vietnamese cyclists to sharpen their skills and gain experience for upcoming tournaments.

National shooting event takes aim

Over 300 sharpshooters are currently competing at a National Top Shooters Tournament which kicked off in the Ha Noi-based National Sports Centre yesterday.

They were drawn from eight teams from across the country including from Hai Phong, Hai Duong, the Army, Thanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, the Ministry of Public Security, Vinh Phuc and Ha Noi.

The sharpshooters are set to compete for 18 sets of men’s and women’s medals until next Thursday.

Thu fails in Olympic qualifying bid

Viet Nam’s top taekwondo artist Nguyen Hoai Thu will not compete at a London Olympics 2012 qualifier to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from June 28 to July 3 due to a knee injury.

Thu, currently training and recovering from her injury at the Ha Noi-based National Sports Centre, who won a silver medal in the women’s 53kg category at the 16th Asian Games in China last year, will lose the chance of taking part in her second Olympics.

The Vietnamese team set to partake in the Baku qualifier include Nguyen Thi Duong, Chu Hoang Dieu Linh, Le Huynh Chau and Duong Thanh Tam.

Among them, Chau who compete in the men’s under-63kg category is expected to secure a place to London due to winning a bronze medal in the men’s U-63kg at the recent World Taekwondo Championships.

Viet Nam will additionally have two referees, Thanh and Le Minh Khuong, working at the Azerbaijan qualifier.

HCM City to host football festival

The Asian Football Confederation’s U-14 Girls’ Festival of Football is ongoing in HCM City until June 14.

Eleven teams will compete at the event at the Thanh Long Sports Centre.

Viet Nam will be represented by the city women’s U14 team coached by Do Thi My Oanh.

An AFC ‘C’ Coaching Certificate course, a Talented Young Referees course, and a workshop of head coaches from participating teams will be organised during the festival.

The AFC women’s committee will hold a meeting to discuss strengthening of women’s football around the continent and issues related to women’s football training.

It is for a fourth successive year that the AFC has chosen Viet Nam to host the event.