Brianna Do competes in 2014 US Women’s Open

Vietnamese American golfer Brianna Do is making her second appearance in the prestigious 2014 US Women’s Open Championship taking place in the US State of North Carolina (NC) from June 19-22.

This year’s annual tournament has drawn the participation of 156 of the top female professional golfers from around the globe and is being played on the No. 2 course at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Pinehurst NC.

After winning the championship title of the US Women’s Amateur Public Links 2011, Brianna Do became a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) one year later. She beat a number of golfers at local qualifiers in the State to compete at the world’s most reputable tournament for the second time.

The 24-year-old female athlete was born in California to an immigrant family of Vietnamese descent. Brianna's parents were very fond of sports. At the age of seven, she practised playing golf under the guidance of her father, Do Xuan Qui.

Draw made for U19 AFC Cup

Viet Nam have been selected to join Group C of the AFC Under-19 Women's Championship 2015 qualifiers, according to the draw of the Asian Football Confederation conducted at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

The 14 teams, seven each from West and South/Central Asia as well as the East Asia and ASEAN regions, were divided into the East and West zones, during the draw with seeding based on the rankings of the 2013 edition.

The West zone consists of Group A and Group B with the former group comprising Jordan, Uzbekistan, India and Lebanon. Group B includes Palestine, Iran and Sri Lanka. The East zone also has two groups, with Group C being pegged as the hardest group with Australia, Viet Nam, Singapore and Hong Kong; while Myanmar, Thailand and Chinese Taipei will battle it out in Group D.

South Korea, North Korea, China and Japan directly qualified thanks to their top-four finishes in the last competition.

Each group will play a one-round league in a centralised venue, where each team in the group will play one match against every other team. The winners from each group will qualify for the finals.

Vietnamese master Truong Son ranks fifteenth in world chess rapid championship

Vietnamese chess master Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son ranked fifteenth in the rapid event at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2014 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on June 17.

Son scored nine points after four wins, one loss, and 10 draws, ranking 15th and securing US$2,000 in cash prize.

Meanwhile, Son's teammate Le Quang Liem only stood 19th after 15 games.

Defending world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway topped the event with 11 points, followed by Fabiano Caruana from Italy and Viswanathan Anand from India.

The rapid championship consisted of 15 rounds, followed by 21 rounds of the blitz championship.

The week-long event features the participation of 124 players from 46 countries, who compete for world rapid and blitz titles. Cash prize totalling US$400,000 will be at stake with US$40,000 for the winner of each tournament.

Le Quang Liem was crowned world blitz champion at last year’s competition with 20.5 points and earned a fourth-place finish in the rapid section. Meanwhile, his teammate Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son finished 16th and fifth in the rapid and blitz chess events, respectively.

Chung shoots down junior record

Le Thi Chung from Dac Lac scored 300 points to win the gold medal and achieve a new record in the girl's 10m Air Rifle Running Target under-18 division yesterday.

It's the first record at the on-going National Junior Air Shooting Championship in the central city.

Chung shaved three points off the old record at the championship in Ha Noi last year.

She beat Huynh Thi Mai Khuyen of Quang Nam, who came in second with 296 points, while her fellow Luu Thi Ngoc Anh ranked third with 294.

HCM City's shooters dominated in the girl's 10m Air pistol under-16 when they nabbed gold medals in the individual and team events. Nguyen Chinh Ngoc Lien won a gold medal with 361 marks, while her teammates Pham Thi Ngoc Chau and Nguyen Thi Huong bagged silver and bronze, respectively.

The squad notched 1,081 points to win the team gold medal.

In the girl's 10m air pistol under-18 event, Vo Thi Ngoc Diu of Dong Nai scored 368 for gold, beating off Hai Duong's Nguyen Thi Van Anh and Nguyen Thi Dung, who came in second and third.

Karate artists head to Indonesia

Vietnamese athletes will participate in the Indonesia Open Karate Championship 2014 to be held at the Senayan Gymnasium in Jakarta today.

The two-day event will see 218 martial artists from 24 nations and territories compete including Japan, France, Malaysia, Laos, Brunei and Singapore. Hosts Indonesia have said they are hoping to get two of 17 gold medals that will be awarded at the competition.