Le Quang Liem (right).

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese sport is seeing big money from commercial sources, finally.

Unlike in the past, when sportspeople were completely dependent on government largesse, they are now raking in prize money, sponsorship, and endorsements.

Top-flight footballers have enjoyed biggish wages for a few years now, with many earning 100 million dong a month (or US$61,500 a year) in a country with a per capita income of around $1,200.

But then football is by far the most popular sports. What is happening now is that some of the money is also making its way into other sports like chess, badminton, and tennis.

Grandmaster Le Quang Liem, Vietnam’s leading chess player and world number 41, for instance, has earned at least VND1 billion ($51,300) this year from prize money.

For winning the Aeroflot Open in Moscow in February, the 19-year-old received 21,000 euro ($29,300). Two weeks earlier he had won $11,200 for finishing third at the Moscow Open.

His silver medal in the category-20 Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund, Germany, in July fetched him a further $10,000.

Most recently he pocketed $9,500 by winning the inaugural Florencio Campomanes Memorial Cup in the Philippines in September.

He and GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son are now playing the blitz chess Cap d’Agde in France which offers total prize money of $67,000.

Nguyen Tien Minh’s financial status has changed considerably since he advanced in the International Badminton Federation’s ranking table to number 8 in October last year.

Import-export company Becamex Binh Duong upped its support for him from VND20 million ($1,000) a month to VND50 million.

Together with other endorsements, he earns VND100 million a month, sports officials said.

Career option

The flow of big money is beginning to persuade people that sport is a viable career option for their children.

Nguyen Hoang Thien is, at 15, already one of the country’s most prominent tennis stars after his parents spent almost $1 million for him to train in the US and Europe in the last couple of years.

He won the International Tennis Federation Asian U-18 event last month and advanced to the semifinals of the Vietnam National Tennis Championship this year.

Japanese sports equipment manufacturer Yonex recently signed a $10,000 a year sponsorship deal with Thien.

Huynh Phuong Dai Trang’s family sold their house so that the 17-year tennis player can train abroad.

Last week, Trang won silver medal in women’s double event at the Khon Kaen tennis tournament in Thailand.

Source: Tuoi Tre