Ly Hoang Nam out of Indonesian tennis tourney

Ly Hoang Nam fought hard but had to bow out of the Indonesia F1 Men's Futures yesterday, losing 2-6, 7-6 (4) to the host nation's Christopher Rungkat in Tarakan City.

Nam was unable to find a way past the No 2 seed who'd three gold medals at the 25th Southeast Asian Games in 2011.

Rungkat dominated from the start, winning a breakpoint in the third game and going on to win the first set for the loss of just two games.

The Vietnamese came back strongly in the second. He lost a breakpoint in the eighth game but fought to take three games in a row to lead 6-5.

However he was not experienced enough to beat world No 241, who levelled the score and won 7-4 in the tie break.

Nam will return home before traveling to India for the Asian Closed Junior Championships next week.

Chervo Open to tee off in Hanoi

The first Chervo Open golf tournament will tee off on April 19 at Ha Noi's Sky Lake Resort & Golf Club.

It is expected to attract more than 140 male and female players.

"The Chervo Open will be the biggest amateur event held in the country, and the winners will receive huge prizes," said Pham Viet Thang, head of the organising board.

Sky Lake, which is one of of Asia's premium destinations,is considered the most challenging course in Vietnam.

Binh Duong beat Ha Noi T&T 1-0

Decisive strike: Binh Duong striker Nguyen Anh Duc celebrates after scoring the only goal of the match against Ha Noi T&T. — Photo nguoiduatin.vn

Defending champs Becamex Binh Duong beat Ha Noi T&T 1-0 in a Round 8 Toyota V-League 2015 match at the Go Dau stadium yesterday afternoon, pushing them to the top of the table with 18 points.

Ha Noi T&T remained in 8th place with 9 points.

The only goal of the match was scored by striker Nguyen Anh Duc in the 3rd minute with a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Playing at home, Binh Duong put pressure on their opponents right after the opening whistle. Adding to the home advantage was the fact Ha Noi T&T were missing key players like Gonzalo and Samson.

In a slow-paced game, Binh Duong had a few more scoring opportunities that the strikes could not take.

Despite a lower rate of possession, Ha Noi T&T also created some dangerous situations that could have led to goals, but their strikers had no luck, striking the crossbar twice.

Vietnam U-23s preparing for 28th SE Asian Games

Vietnam U-23s are now heading for the short-term target at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in June after winning a ticket to the finals of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship.

They eye a place in the final match of the football (soccer) category at the multi-sport 28th SEA Games, to be held in Singapore from June 5 to 16.

“In the short term, we will call up players who couldn’t play the recent matches of the qualifiers of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship in Malaysia.

“We will also select new players born in 1992 to build up our best team for the SEA Games,” said Le Hoai Anh, general secretary of the Vietnam Football Federation.

The team will set up a training camp from May 5 to 25 in Hanoi to prepare for the Games.

During this period, they will have two friendlies with the South Korean national under-23 team on May 9 and another under-23 team from East Asia or Europe on May 14.

Players of the Vietnamese U-23 squad have the average age of 20.74, the youngest compared to other teams taking part in the AFC U-23 Championship qualification in Malaysia from March 24 to 31.

The Vietnamese team have 13 footballers aged 19-20, born from 1995 to 1996; three aged 21; and seven aged 22.

Concerning the competition in the qualifiers of the Asian U-23 tourney, Vietnam earned six points after three games against Malaysia, Japan, and Macau, thus qualifying for the finals of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship, to be played in Qatar between January 12 and 30.

Vietnam advanced to the last-16 round as one of the five best second-ranked teams, following a 2-1 victory over hosts Malaysia on March 27, a 0-2 defeat against Japan on March 29, and a 7-0 rout over Macau on March 31.

The five teams will join ten winners from ten groups of the qualifiers and hosts Qatar in the finals, with the nine group leaders being Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Syria, Australia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and China. Group B squads have yet to start their competition due to security concerns in Pakistan.

The suspended group includes Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and hosts Pakistan.

The Asian Football Confederation has yet to announce a new schedule for this group.