Sir Nick Faldo revisits his own golf course

Sir Nick Faldo, the legendary British golf player, last weekend revisited his favourite golf course: the Laguna Lang Co Golf Club.

Faldo, who has won six major golf events and more than 30 titles in the European Professional Golf Association, has visited the golf course which he himself designed and which was constructed in the new Golf Coast of Viet Nam four times previously.

This five-day visit from November 29 to December 3 is his fifth. "If you play it once, you'll go back tomorrow and try it again," the famous golfer quipped. "For this part of Viet Nam, it's a real hidden gem." The Asian Golf Monthly Magazine adjudged Laguna Lang Co Golf Club as Asia's Best New Golf Course in 2013 to 2014. The golf course was officially opened to the public last year and has since been a favourite destination of foreign and Vietnamese golfers.

It measures 6,958 yards and follows the par-71 Faldo Designs layout which the golfer himself personally supervised from start to finish. It aspires to be the best among Viet Nam's 30 golf courses and to achieve numerous accolades.

Viet Nam is out of Axiata Cup

Viet Nam lost 1-3 to the European All Star team in the last match of the Axiata Cup qualifier in Indonesia yesterday.

World No 50 Vu Thi Trang was the only one to win from the team, with her 21-8, 17-21, 21-18 triumph over Kirsty Gilmour in the women's singles match.

Earlier Nguyen Hoang Nam lost 16-21, 18-21 to Brice Leverdez in the men's singles.

Huynh Nguyen Khanh and Bao Minh were defeated 8-21, 11-21 by Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov in the men's doubles.

In the mixed doubles match, Dao Manh Thang and Pham Nhu Thao drew 15-21, 21-18 with Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier after the first two sets, but lost the third set 15-21.

Ranked sixth, Viet Nam did not qualify for the semi-finals, in which Thailand, European All Star, Malaysia and the host team will compete on Saturday.

Thanh, Hieu win wrestling matches

Trinh Van Thanh of Bac Ninh and Nguyen Van Hieu of Ninh Binh each won a gold medal in events that marked the end of the National Sports Games yesterday.

Ninh won in the men's 96kg freestyle wrestling while Hieu later defeated Vu Ngoc Linh of Phu Tho in the men's 120kg freestyle wrestling in Thai Binh City.

Thanh scored 11 points after three matches, or one more than silver medallist Ngo Van Lam of the Military. Mai Van Luat of Thai Nguyen won the bronze medal with five points.

It was the last day of wrestling, which saw Ha Noi on top with eight titles, followed by the Military and Thanh Hoa Province.

The canoeing events also ended yesterday, with Binh Thuan taking three gold medals, Ha Noi bagging two and Quang Ninh, as well as Vinh Phuc, Tuyen Quang, Hai Phong and Quang Binh, earning one each.

Ha Noi, HCM City and the Military have taken and maintained the top three positions in the Games, which officially kicked off last Saturday in Nam Dinh Province.

Quyen takes third stage of cycling

Tran Van Quyen, a soldier, won the third stage of the Trans-Viet cycling tournament yesterday.

Quyen of the Military team completed the 39km-long six laps around the Pham Van Dong Avenue in HCM City with a time of 51.09min.

Do Tuan Anh of Domesco Dong Thap and Nguyen Thanh Tam of Gao Hat Ngoc Troi An Giang came second and third, respectively.

HCM City's Huynh Mai Duy did not finish in the first group, but remained the lead cyclist after three stages, with a total time of 9:14.22.

The two runners-up were Le Van Dong of VTV Can Tho and Nguyen Vu Linh of ADC-Vinh Long Television.

HCM City took the lead in the team event with a time of 27:46.25, followed by VTV Can Tho and Domesco Dong Thap 1.

The fourth stage of the tournament today will see the cyclists cover 105km from Phan Rang-Thap Cham City to Nha Trang City.