Nguyen Anh Khoi wins at Asian chess championship

Nguyen Anh Khoi, former world U10 championship won a gold medal at the blitz event in the U12 category at the Asian Youth Chess Championship held in Uzbekistan on June 28.

Anh Khoi (elo 2.191) is the No 2 seed after the host rival Yakubboev Nodirbek (elo 2.217). In the second match, Khoi suddenly lost points while Yakubboev Nodirbek won in the first five matches and took lead in the tally with five points, one point higher than Khoi.

However, in the sixth match, Khoi overcame great pressure to defeat Yakubboev Nodirbek in the direct round, earning the same points.

In the final match, both grandmasters triumphed with six points. However, according to the organizing board’s rules, Khoi won the gold medal as he defeated Yakubboev Nodirbek in the direct round.

This is the first time Khoi has won the blitz championship at a continental tournament.

Embassies host friendly football with Vietnamese agencies

The French and German embassies in Hanoi on June 29 co-organised a friendly sports day themed “Football Festival” on the occasion of World Cup 2014 taking place in Brazil.

During the tournament, foreign teams from France, Germany, the UK, the US and Italy faced off with each other for a tournament of sport and friendly competition.

Vietnam fielded a team consisting of players from the Ministries of Transport, Education and Training, Sports and Tourism, Foreign Affairs, Planning and Investment, Public Security and the Vietnam Alumni Association in France.

Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang, captain of the Vietnamese team, said that the tournament is a special event celebrating World Cup 2014 and aiming to encourage the outstanding teams which have entered the quarter-final round at the world championship.

Diverse activities like folk games and display of speciality pavilions were also staged as part of the festivities.

Dong Thap scrape back into V-League

Dong Thap broke into the V-League after two years, beating Ha Noi FC by a solitary goal at home in the final of the V League 2 on Saturday.

Phan Viet Dan scored the lone goal in an evenly played match seven minutes into the second half, with a beautiful curling kick into the far corner of the goal to the right of keeper Tran Anh Duc.

"We did not start the season well, losing 1-0 to the hosts Ha Noi FC, but we became more stable and connected as the season progressed. It was an up and down season for us but our players knew how to overcome the hard times," Dong Thap coach, Pham Cong Loc, said.

"Actually, we set the pace for a promotion from the fourth round to the end of the season, but there was some anxiety among the team members when we only got promoted in the last match of the season," Loc added.

With doubts surfacing over the team's ability to keep its place in the V-League, where Dong Thap have been relegated and promoted many times since 2000, Loc said he was not thinking of the new season and just wanted to enjoy the moment with his players right now.

Khanh Hoa were unexpectedly held to a goalless draw by already eliminated Tay Ninh, but still came in second with 23 points to secure their second automatic promotion ticket to the top-flight football competition.

Can Tho beat Dak Lak 4-1 at home to total 21 points and helped Ha Noi FC leapfrog into third place. Can Tho will now play against the bottom-ranked team in a play-off for a place in the V-League.

With the promotion of Dong Thap and Khanh Hoa, and another slot after the play-off, the V-League 2015 season will return to a normal format of 14 teams after a reduction caused by a financial crunch in the past two years.

U-19s win last match of Japan training tour

Viet Nam's U-19 squad defeated a student team of the Osaka Sangyo University of Japan 4-0 in their last friendly match of the training course yesterday.

The visitors, despite being the weaker opponents, set up their domination from the first seconds and created a number of opportunities. Three of them were converted into goals in the first half itself.

The first two went to Vietnamese captain Nguyen Cong Phuong and the third was scored by his teammate Nguyen Van Toan, who made it 3-0 with a straight shot.

The result would have been different if striker Le Van Son had not missed a penalty and the pole had not denied their shoot-out twice.

Phan Van Duc made it 4-0 for Viet Nam in the middle of the second half, making it a beautiful good-bye for the team after weeks of training and competing in Japan.

They will arrive in Viet Nam today and start preparing for the Southeast Asian U22 Football Championship in Brunei in August.

Baseball teams go down in first Little League matches

The Viet Nam baseball team lost 0-13 to Chinese Taipei in the first match of the Little League Asia Pacific and Middle East yesterday in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the junior squad were also defeated 6-9 by Marianas in the Junior League Baseball event.

Today, the Little League team (11 to 12 years) will play Marianas while the junior (12 to 14 years) have no match as they received a bye in this round.

The tournament features 52 teams from 16 countries at the Clark Freeport Zone parade grounds in Angeles City, Pampanga.

The Asia-Pacific regional champions will advance to their respective Little League World Series tournaments capped by the centrepiece Little League Baseball Championships scheduled from August 14 to 24 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the United States.

Dramatic finale awaits V-League 2

The final round of the V-League 2 (Second Division), the national second-tier football competition, promises a lot of drama with the main prizes still up for grabs.

As the final round kicks off today, three teams – Dong Thap, Khanh Hoa and Ha Noi T&T – are still title contenders, and there are up to five teams, including Dak Lak and Can Tho – in contention for one of the three promotion slots.

Dong Thap, who are leading the table with 23 points, have everything on their side for winning the title when they play Ha Noi, who are three points behind, at home.

A win will see the Mekong Delta football team become the new champion, and with it an automatic promotion to the V-League. In this scenario, Ha Noi's chances of promotion will depend on the result of the match between Can Tho and Dak Lak.

The top two teams in V-League 2 go through to the top-flight V-League, while the third team will face the bottom-ranked one in a play-off match.

A draw can cost Dong Thap the title if Khanh Hoa, who are just one point behind them, win all three points against already-relegated Tay Ninh. Then it will be Khanh Hoa who will win the title and the automatic promotion.

If Ha Noi win, they will leapfrog the home team on the overall rankings table and secure a place in the top-flight V-League.

Khanh Hoa will take title if they win and Dong Thap, who lost 1-0 to Ha Noi in the first leg, will drop to third, meaning that they will have to play against the bottom-ranked team of the V-League in the play-off match for a place in the V-League next season.

In the remaining match of the last round, Hue host HCM City in a match of little significance because both teams are safe from relegation but far too behind to compete for promotion.

VNA/VNS/VOV