VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese chess grandmaster Le Quang Liem could not defeat US rival Hikaru Nakamura (elo 2814) at the final round of the Millionaire Chess Tournament in Las Vegas, which was wrapped up on October 13.

As the runner-up of the tournament, Liem was awarded US$50,000.

The champion Nakamura, who was seed No1 of the tournament and came second in the world ranking, received US$100,000.

Earlier, Liem entered the final round after trouncing US rival A.Lenderman (elo 2623) 2-0.

Trang to face Mainaky at Grand Prix

No 5 seed Vu Thi Trang of Viet Nam will play Indonesia's Lyanny Alessandra Mainaky in the first-round women's singles event of the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix today.

Trang is seeded No 50 in the world, while her rival is No 218.

Another Vietnamese at the tournament is Nguyen Tien Minh in the men's singles category.

No 1 seed Minh will compete in the second round. His rival will be the winner of the match between Lee Hock Lai of Malaysia and Simon Santoso of Indonesia.

The Grand Prix runs from today to October 18, with the winners walking away with a total sum of US$50,000. 

HCM City top nat'l swimming event

HCM City topped the National Finswimming Championships at the second day of competition in the central coastal city of Da Nang yesterday.

The squad bagged seven golds, three silvers and one bronze. Ha Noi came in second with three golds, two silvers and three bronze medals, while Quang Binh finished third with two golds, one silver and three bronze medals.

About 112 swimmers from 16 teams nationwide are competing for 32 sets of medals at the tournament, which ends tomorrow.

Miura wants win over Thailand

Viet Nam's coach Toshyia Miura wants his team to beat Thailand by at least one goal when the two meet in the 2018 World Cup qualification round tonight in Ha Noi.

It means that the Japanese has set a target of winning three points on home turf at the My Dinh Stadium although he had high praise for the arch-rivals.

Speaking at a press conference held yesterday in the capital city, Miura said he had prepared for the second-leg game between the two squads.

"There will be several changes in my team, but in any case my players will have to play their best for a good match," Miura, who received appreciation after his team's 1-1 draw against Iraq last week, said.

The coach said a win over Thailand was always a target that he has been chasing since he began to work in Viet Nam.

"Thailand have won most of its matches against Viet Nam. I not only want to beat them but also want to bring Viet Nam to continental level," he said.

"It is difficult to beat them with four or five goals but a solitary goal win is possible," he believed.

"Thailand is always a big rival that every Vietnamese wants to defeat and we, the players, want even more than them," striker Le Cong Vinh, who also presented at the conference yesterday, said.

Vinh should be the one who knows Thailand the best as he was one of Viet Nam team members who beat Thailand in the AFF Championship final in 2008.

"It is difficult to compare them in different times. But they are always players with skilful techniques who understand each other," Vinh said.

"Thailand's football is the best among ASEAN countries. So we need to know who we are and have a suitable plan to have a good result against them," the captain said.

On the other side, coach assistant Kairung Threejagsang said he hoped Viet Nam, who dropped a win over Iraq in the last seconds would be attacking like his team tomorrow, so that it would be a great match for spectators.

And Kairung also hoped to take three points home as they did in the first-leg match months ago.

Coach Kiatisak Senamuang said it would be no easy match for the hosts.

He said fan support would make Viet Nam stronger especially when they play on home soil. Vietnamese fans were great and really wanted a win for their team but his players would make a strong impression on them.

He said the Thais had their own ways and knew how to manage the game.

The former national striker, who played and coached in Viet Nam for several years, said My Dinh would be a place for the Thais to perform their skills before taking a win home.

In this match, Miura will be backed by thousands of local fans, while his players are in good spirits after a draw versus Iraq.

However, Thai fans also want to make My Dinh their home ground with more than 2,000 tickets having been booked by the Thai football association.

The visiting team, which has had more rest days than the hosts is promised a bonus of 1 million baht (US$26,700) for each goal that they score in this match.

Under Miura's reign, Viet Nam have met Thailand thrice and lost all.

The match will be aired live from 7pm on VTV6 channel. 

VOV/VNS