Japan, Australia invited to U21 tourney in Vietnam

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has invited Japan to compete in the U21 international football tournament due to take place in Can Tho city from October 19-29.

VFF General Secretary Le Hoai Anh said the Japan Football Association is keen to send its teams to play friendlies in Vietnam to exchange experience and hone new skills.

The Japanese side said they will either send its U20 or U18 team to Vietnam, as the U19 team will play at the AFC U19 Championship in Myanmar this October.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Sydney FC said they have also received the VFF’s invitation and they are willing to send a strong lineup to Vietnam.

Besides Japan and Sydney FC, Thailand and Malaysia will also take part in the tournament.

Bac Ninh to host VTV int’l women’s volleyball tourney

Six teams, including five from overseas, will compete in a much-awaited international women’s volleyball tournament (VTV Cup) in Bac Ninh province from May 17-24.

The foreign teams are from Thailand, Australia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, and Yunnan of China.

Vietnamese girls (in red jersey) qualified for the semi-finals at VTV Cup 2013

The six teams will play in a round-robin format to select four teams to the semi-finals to vie for first prize worth US$10,000.

The Bac Ninh Competition House has been refurbished to accommodate 3,400 spectators compared to its initial 2,400 seat capacity.

 This is the 11th time Vietnam Television (VTV) will have hosted such tournament.

Binh Thuan win traditional boat race

Binh Thuan pocketed six gold medals to win the National Traditional Boat Boating Tournament, which wrapped up on Sunday in Hai Duong Province.

An Giang came second with five titles, followed by Can Tho with four.

The event attracted more than 500 athletes from 14 delegations to participate in the 18 events held for both men and women, with distances of 200, 500 and 1,000m.

The second edition of the tournament was part of the National Sports Games. The results will be use as criteria to select athletes for the national team, which will compete at

the Asian Beach Games later this year in Phuket, Thailand.

Minh, Trang to participate in World Badminton Championships

Viet Nam will send two players to the World Badminton Championships which will be held in Denmark in August.

World No 10 Nguyen Tien Minh will compete in the men's singles category, while Vu Thi Trang, World No 83, will take part in the women's single event.

While Minh has been a regular competitor, it would be the first time ever that a female Vietnamese player would play in the tournament.

Trang is at the peak of her performance, after making it to the semi-finals of the March's Ciputra Hanoi-Yonex Sunrise Vietnam International Challenge and to the second

round of the OUE Singapore Open last month.

The World Championships will be held in Ballerup Super Arena, Copenhagen, from August 25 to 31.

Badminton star Cuong to compete at Nanjing Youth Olympics

Badminton player Pham Cao Cuong has won a ticket to compete at the coming Youth Olympics in China.

The Badminton World Federation has released a list of 56 competitors, boys and girls, for the Nanjing event on August 16-28. Cuong, the junior world No 8, is the only

representative from Viet Nam.

The 18-year-old's berth is the eighth that has been occupied by a Vietnamese.

Earlier, athletes competing in gymnastics, beach volleyball, taekwondo, rowing and weightlifting also qualified.

Honda signs sponsorship deal with Vietnamese Football Federation

Honda Vietnam will continue to support Viet Nam football after signing a sponsor contract with the Viet Nam Football Federation on Saturday in HCM City.

Following the agreement, the value of which was kept secret, the Japanese firm will sponsor both men's and women's national teams and the U23 men's squad, in one year

beginning from this April.

Honda said if the Vietnamese women win a berth in the final round of the World Cup 2015, while the men take the AFF Cup title, each player would receive a bonus of an

SH125 motorbike, which costs about VND56 million (US$2,600).