More than VND1 billion award for women’s football team

The VFF on October 16 at a ceremony in Hanoi awarded VND1 billion to the Vietnam women’s football squad in recognition of their outstanding performance at the 2014 Asian Games (ASIAD 17).

At the ASIAD 17 competition recently held in Incheon, the Republic of Korea (RoK), under the guidance of Coach Mai Duc Chung, the football team made it to the semi-finals for the first time ever.

Vietnam football players received an award of VND1 billion from the Hanoi Municipal Peoples Committee and VND1 billion from the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).

Goal keeper Kieu Trinh received VND20 million from the VFF.  

Minh retains 24th spot in world badminton rankings

There was no movement for Vietnamese top player Nguyen Tien Minh in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings, which were released on October 16.

The superstar stayed put in the 24th position in the world with 41,060 points. Minh is currently participating in the Yonex Denmark Open badminton tournament from October 14 to 19 in Odense City. He next faces Chinese player Tian Houwei in the second round.

In the top of the world rankings, Malaysian player Lee Chong Wei is still in the first place, followed by Chen Long (China), Jan Jorgensen (Denmark), Kenichi Tago (Japan) and Tommy Sugiarto (Indonesia) respectively.

Minh out of Denmark Open after losing second round

Nguyen Tien Minh of Viet Nam was knocked out of the Yonex Denmark Open in the second round yesterday in Odense City.

The world No 24 lost 21-16, 21-3 to world No 14 Houwei Tian of China in a 41 minute match at the Odense Sports Park.

Unseeded Tian also sent No 5 seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia home with an easy win in the first round.

Minh's defeat means there are no Vietnamese representatives left at the Open.

Earlier, his teammate Vu Thi Trang was eliminated after losing in the qualification round of the women's singles category on Wednesday.

Trang beat Simone Prutsch of Austria, 21-14, 26-24, in the first match before losing 14-21, 21-16, 21-15 to Kati Tolmoff of Estonia in the second.

The Denmark Open is offering a US$600,000 prize for winners and will wrap up on Sunday.

Thin calls up youngsters for U21 national football team

Coach Phan Cong Thin has called up two players from the U19 national team to play for the U21 national team at the International U21 Football Tournament, Thanh Nien Newspaper Cup in Can Tho from October 19-28.

Fullback Phan Van Long and striker Ho Tuan Tai will play in Group A alongside Thailand and Singapore, while Group B consists of Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Malaysia and Sydney FC.

Last year, Viet Nam won the trophy by beating Australia 4-1 in a penalty shootout.

Anh wins fifth stage of Nam Ky Khoi Nghia cycling tour

Veteran cyclist Do Tuan Anh of Domesco Pharmacy Dong Thap made a convincing return to win the fifth stage of the Nam Ky Khoi Nghia cycling tour yesterday.

He beat strong rivals to the finish line with a time of 1:08.18 over the 51km stage around Ho Xuan Huong Lake in Da Lat.

Anh's teammate Nguyen Truong Tai and Nguyen Thanh Tam of Gao Hat Ngoc Troi came in second and third.

Despite finishing outside the top three, Huynh Mai Duy of HCM City retained the yellow jersey with the best overall time of 15:15.07 after five stages, followed by Tran Van Duc of VTV Can Tho and Nguyen Minh Tam of HCM City's Vinamit.

Tai holds the green jersey as best sprinter with 43 points.

VTV Can Tho held on to their lead in the team rankings with an overall time of 46:07.31.