Players prepare for April championship

The National Volleyball Championships will be organised in April and draw participation of 23 teams.

Twelve female squads have been divided into Group A and B, with each team competing in a round robin format. It is the same for the 11 men's clubs.

The tournament is divided into two phases. The first one will be held from April 12 to 19, with Thai Binh hosting the Group B matches and Phu Tho in-charge of the Group A matches.

After the first leg, two top participants from each group will take part in the Hung Vuong Cup from April 24 to 27.

The second leg is scheduled for November 14 to 28.

According to Tran Duc Phan, general secretary of the Viet Nam Federation of Volleyball, this year's tournament will be much better than before, as all the players are in intensive training for preparation for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in June.

"This year, the SEA Games are being held six months earlier than usual so all athletes are training hard. They only has a few days off for Tet holiday and have returned to work hard since then," said Phan. "The championships are important as they help select the best players for the national teams, who go on to compete in international tournaments later."

Phan said a new feature this year was that many clubs are introducing younger players as they are in the process of rejuvenating their teams.

"New faces will be introduced, especially in the men's competition. We hope that they will make for exciting matches," said Phan.

Younger male players will be promoted to the national U-23 team, which will compete at the Asian U23 Men's Volleyball Championship in May in Myanmar.

Nuntana wins stage, tops ranking

Supuksorn Nuntana strengthened her overall position after winning the seventh stage of the International Women's Cycling Binh Duong Open yesterday.

The Thai finished the 95km from Phan Rang-Thap Cham City to Bac Binh District of Binh Thuan Province with a time of 2hr 20min, just a flash before Baitlleuova Marzhan of Kazakhstan and Phan Thi Lieu.

Nuntana has opened a gap between her closest rivals, Cao Thi Cam Le of Binh Duong Environment and Water Supply-Drainage and teammate Cao Thi Thuy Trang.

Domesco Dong Thap top the team rankings, just 9sec ahead of Thailand after Nuntana's win yesterday. Binh Duong are in third.

The eighth stage will take cyclists over 112km from Binh Thuan to Vung Tau City.

Five-a-side tourney returns to cities

The Standard Chartered Trophy 2015 football tournament in Viet Nam will kick off in Ha Noi on Sunday and in HCM City six days later to select the country's representative for the global finals in Liverpool in May.

Fourteen teams from the North are to compete in Ha Noi while more than 60 teams from the South will play in HCM City.

The five-a-side teams will be divided in groups and compete in round robin format following futsal regulations. The top two teams will advance to the knock-out round. The winners from the North and the South will then meet in the final in HCM City on March 15.

Viet Nam's winners will get a bye to take part in the global finals at Anfield on May 6-9, as they are defending champions. In England, they will face with nine squads who qualified from their domestic and regional qualifying rounds.

Women set to take to the court

The National Women's Tennis Championship will commence on March 8 in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province.

The annual tournament has drawn 31 athletes, who will compete in the singles category, who are divided into different age groups ranging from U12 to over-18 years. Twenty-five pairs will take part in the doubles category.

The finals are scheduled for March 12.

The Viet Nam Tennis Federation will select the best performers for inclusion in the national team, who will compete at the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore this June.

Teams rev up for the Central Viet Games

Players from Ha Noi and HCM City competed in Australian football, rugby, touch rugby, netball and Gaelic football at the Central Viet Games at the Son Tra Sports Field in the central city on March 7.

The event was organised by the Viet Nam Swans Australian Football Club in co-operation with the other sports clubs, and all profits went to Swim Viet Nam, a charity based in central Viet Nam which provides free swimming and water safety lessons for children, and trains local adults to become swimming teachers.

Ha Noi Oi played Sai Gon Shooters Mixed Netball, while Viet Celts faced Sai Gon Gaels Men's Gaelic.

In touch rugby, Ladies Viet Celts faced Ladies Saigon Gaels Gaelic, while Ha Noi Dragons took on Saigon Geckos Rugby, and Saigon Swans will play Hanoi Swans Aussie Rules.

For full details of the Central Vietnam Games can be found at vietnamswans.com.