Vietnamese football still tops SEA

The national men’s football squad has dropped three notches to 132nd in the latest April rankings of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), but still tops the Southeast Asian region.

The main cause of downgrading was it lost 0-1 to the Hong Kong team in the qualifying round of Asian Cup 2015.

Vietnam’s biggest rival Thailand has also fallen five notches to 140th after being defeated 2-5 by Lebanon.

Even Singapore, champion of the Asean Football Federation AFF Cup 2012, has dropped three positions to 165th.

In Asia, despite its downgrading to 29th in the world’s rankings, Japan remains in its top position, followed by the Republic of Korea (42nd), Australia (46th) and Iran (56th).

The top three in the world’s rankings are Spain, Germany and Argentina.

Brazil, which is the host of World Cup 2014, has dropped to 19th after two draws in friendly matches with Italy and Russia.

Britain and Italy have fallen three notches to 7th and 8th, respectively.

National chess event to kick off

The National First Division Chess Championships is scheduled to begin on April 14 in HCM City.

The event, lasting until April 23, will not see the participation of two Grandmasters Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son who are occupied at the other events.

The tournament will be fought out between veterans such as Dao Thien Hai, Cao Sang, Nguyen Duc Hoa and Nguyen Van Huy in the men's event, while international masters Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, Hoang Thi Nhu Y and Le Thanh Tu will compete for the women's title.

Another chess event, National Junior Chess Championships, will also open in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on July 12-19.

Clock ticks down to National Chess Championships

The National First-Division Chess Championships is scheduled to begin on Sunday in HCM City.

The event, lasting until April 23, will not see the participation of two Grandmasters Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son who are occupied at other events.

The tournament will be fought out between veterans such as Dao Thien Hai, Cao Sang, Nguyen Duc Hoa and Nguyen Van Huy in the men's event, while international masters Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, Hoang Thi Nhu Y and Le Thanh Tu will compete for the women's title.

Another chess event, National Junior Chess Championships, will also open in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on July 12-19.

Thuy Dung wins yellow jersey in Thailand

Female Vietnamese cyclist Thuy Dung wore the yellow jersey in the final stage of the Tour of Thailand 2013 after an outstanding performance on April 10.

Representing Vietnam, the Binh Duong team did their best to defend Dung’s position achieved in the second stage.

The final stage from Phang Nga to Phuket is 122.89 km long.

Cyclists from Taiwan and host Thailand pushed furiously to get ahead of Thuy Dung. Fortunately her teammates Cam Le, Ngoc Trang, Thuy Trang and Kim Ngan banded together to help Dung reach the finish line just two seconds faster than Taiwanese rival Huang Ting Ying.

This is the first time a Vietnamese cyclist has taken the trophy in an international tournament.

Vietnam’s male team ADC Vinh Long has invested massive amounts of time and energy to compete in previous Tour of Thailand events, but to no avail.  

Thai Son Nam score first win at futsal championships

Vietnamese champions Thai Son Nam defeated Dural Warriors AF of Australia 6-2 in the opening Group B match of the ongoing Asian Futsal Club Championships in Malaysia.

Inaba Kotaro, Trong Luan and Thanh Dat each scored twice, while on the Australian side Gregory Giovenali and Adam Bradley had one goal each.

"It was an open match and it could have gone either way," Thai Son Nam's Italian coach Sergio Gargelli said.

"We were not in complete control but I believe that the opponents were too young and they looked a bit more fatigued than our players. I used all of my players to maintain the tempo throughout the match.

"But we are still not there. This win is definitely a step forward but anything can happen so we have to remain on our guard."

Thai Son Nam, who were the first runners-up of last year's qualifiers, are the sole representative from Viet Nam and the only Vietnamese team that has participated in this continental tournament.

Their next rival will be Penlindo FC of Indonesia tomorrow. Penlindo lost to Viet Nam 1-2 in their meet at last year's edition in HCM City.

The event, lasting until April 16, has attracted seven teams divided into two groups. The best four teams will go through to the semi-final.

The top three qualifiers will then attend the final round in Japan.

Local doubles pair knocked out in semis at ITF Futures event

Vietnamese duo Le Quoc Khanh and Nguyen Hoang Thien were knocked out in the semi-finals of the International Tennis Federation's Men's Futures in HCM City yesterday, April 11.

They lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to the top-seeded pair of Logan MacKenzie from New Zealand and Dane Propoggia from Australia at the Phu Tho Tennis Club.

Khanh, Thien and Ly Hoang Nam had all failed to advance beyond the first round in the singles event.

VNN/VNS/VOV