Chess masters fail in national event

World chess masters Le Quang Liem and Hoang Thi Thanh Trang have failed to lift trophies at the National Sports Games.

Liem of HCM City, ranked 65th in the world, finished second in the men's rapid chess event which wrapped up in Quang Ninh Province yesterday. He earned six points after nine rounds, second only to Cao Sang of Lam Dong who had seven points.

Le Tuan Minh of Ha Noi, the only one to beat Liem in this tournament, won the bronze medal.

On the women's side, Trang, ranked 25th in the world and a former Asian and European champion, was expected to triumph easily but instead, struggled from the start and fell to sixth place after failing to enter the top three.

Pham Le Thao Nguyen of Can Tho won the gold medal while Hoang Thi Nhu Y and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, both from Bac Giang, won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

The masters will next compete in blitz chess starting today. Ha Noi maintained its top ranking after three days of competition with 48 gold medals while HCM City placed second and Military placed third.

Cyclist Duy wins second stage

Huynh Mai Duy yesterday won top individual honours while his team, HCM City, won top team honours in the second stage of the Trans-Viet cycling tournament.

Duy reached the finish line of the 160km route from Can Tho City to HCM City with a time of 3hr 49.36min. He made a solo breakout from 15km to the end and successfully crossed the line without any challenge. Ho Huynh Van An of Gao Hat Ngoc Troi An Giang placed second and Nguyen Huu Tien of Ha Noi placed third.

Duy's outstanding performance gave him the yellow jersey, mark of the leading cyclist, who clocked a total of 8:23.13 after two stages.

He was followed by first stage winner Le Van Dong of VTV Can Tho and Nguyen Vu Linh of ADC-Vinh Long Television.

The HCM City team clocked a time of 25:12.58 to replace VTV Can Tho at the top, with Domesco Dong Thap 1 placing third.

The third stage today involves three laps measuring 36km around Pham Van Dong Avenue in HCM City.