HCM City triumphed at the National Junior Vovinam (Vietnamese traditional martial arts) Championship which wrapped up in the southern province of Phú Yên on Sunday.


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HCM City’s martial artists. — Photo voh.com.vn


The team won 12 golds, four silvers and 13 bronzes. Cần Thơ came second with eight golds, seven silvers and four bronzes, while the Military team finished third with six golds, a silver and seven bronzes.

The five-day tournament featured 460 martial artists from 33 provinces and cities nationwide.

Participants competed for 62 sets of medals in 24 categories of performance and 38 divisions of combat in two age groups of 12-15 and 16-18.

The event aimed to select young martial artists for national teams.

Vovinam is practised with and without weapons. It is based on a balance of hard and soft motions and actions. The martial art technique includes training of the body and mind and uses hand motions, elbows, kicks as well as escape and levering techniques.

Vovinam was founded by late grandmaster Nguyễn Lộc in Hà Nội in 1938. It has more than 2 million practitioners in nearly 70 countries.

SHB Đà Nẵng’s key striker, Đỗ Merlo injured


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Sebastián Gastón Merlo (No 19). — Photo bongda.com.vn


V.League 1’s side SHB Đà Nẵng won’t have the service of their key striker Sebastián Gastón Merlo for at least the next two matches due to injury.

The Argentinean footballer scored one goal in the 2-1 win against Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) in the 14th round on Sunday. However, he broke his nose due to an error made by midfielder Kim Jin-seo of HAGL.

As a result, the 33-year-old player will have to miss the upcoming matches against Hà Nội FC and Nam Định.

Merlo is one of the best goal scorers in the national premier league. He won the league’s top scorer award three times in a row from 2009 to 2011. He also won the league’s best foreign player award in 2009 and 2011.

Last year, he was granted Vietnamese citizenship and got a new name, Đỗ Merlo.

Earlier, SHB Đà Nẵng received more bad news that their midfielder Võ Huy Toàn will have to rest at least three months to recover from his injury of the ligament.

VNS