Nhat comes second at Sabah Masters

Viet Nam's Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat came second at the Sabah Masters held at Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club, Malaysia, on Saturday.

Thailand's Wisut Artjanawat won the tournament, making it his second Sabah Masters title and fifth Asean PGA Tour victory.

Wisut pulled away from a packed leaderboard by firing a closing 3-under-par 68 to beat compatriot Sattaya Supupramai and Nhat by two shots.

Sattaya shot 68 and Nhat 70 in the final event of the 2013-14 Asean PGA Tour season.

Wisut, Nhat and Thailand's Ratchapol Jantavara were tied for the first place when the day started. It was a tight battle all day with the lead position changing hands many times.

Ratchapol finished in fourth position, four shots behind the winner, sharing it with defending champion Antonio Lascuna of the Philippines, Singaporean Mardan Mamat, and Filipino veteran Frankie Minoza.

Thailand's Kwanchai Tannin wrapped up the Order of Merit title by finishing in 13th place at one over. He topped the Merit list, and secured a OneAsia card, with earnings of US$35,630 – an Asean PGA Tour record.

Nam, Andrzejczuk settle for silver

Vietnamese Ly Hoang Nam and Polish partner Adrian Andrzejczuk won a silver medal at Costa Rica's Coffee Bowl which wrapped up yesterday, January 12.

The duo lost 4-6, 6-3, 7-10 to No 3 Nicolas Nicolas (Peru) and Rafael Coutinho (Venezuela) in the final of the boys' doubles.

In the semi-final, Nam and Andrzejczuk successfully sent title favourite Orlando Luz and Joao Menezes of Brazil home after a 6-3, 7-6 victory.

Nam was eliminated in the third round of the singles event on Thursday.

He will continue his tour to the Copa Gatorade in Venezuela starting today.

GM Thong clinches gold at Australia blitz competition

Viet Nam's grandmaster Tu Hoang Thong claimed the gold medal in the blitz event of the 2014 Australian Chess Championships held in Victoria from January 2-11.

The 42-year-old GM earned nine points after 11 games: eight wins, two draws and one loss. He was seeded second among the 102 outstanding players at the blitz competition. His score was 0.5 points higher than the three runners-up.

Thong's success validates the high reputation of Viet Nam's blitz team after the impressive achievements of its players, including Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Vo Thi Kim Phung.

Thong of HCM City became Viet Nam's youngest champion in 1986 at the age of 14, a record that has yet to be broken.

He won the national champion title three times in 1987, 1991 and 1998 and secured second place at the 1991 and 1992 Asian champs. He also had a berth to compete at the Chess Olympiad from 1990 to 2008.

Athletes head for Myanmar Paralympic Games

A team of 125 Vietnamese athletes will compete at ASEAN Paralympic Games in Myanmar in January 14-20.

The team will participate in six of the 12 sports and have set a goal of finishing in the top four overall.

The disabled Vietnamese competitors have been performing strongly in track-and-field and swimming, and are expected to win about 30 gold medals in the upcoming Games.

The event, the seventh of its kind, will offer the athletes a chance to home skills on the long road to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil.

In the last ASEAN Paralympic Games, held in Indonesia in 2011, Vietnam won 43 gold, 42 silver and 62 bronze medals, ranking fourth overall.

Tien Minh knocked out of Korea Open

Leading Vietnamese badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh has suffered an upset loss at the hands of Chinese rival Chen Long in their January 10 third round match of the Korea Open.

Minh faced ferocious opposition from very beginning, losing the first set 17-21.

He fought back in the second, at one point ahead 19-15, but eventually succumbed to Chen Long 19-21.

Minh has lost three of his last four matches against the Chinese World No. 2.

Hung wins Ben Tre Television Cup

Mai Nguyen Hung of HCM City Eximbank wins the Ben Tre Television Cycling Cup.

Tran Van Quyen of Military Zone 7 won the finals of the National Cycling Tournament – the Ben Tre Television Cup – on Saturday, as Mai Nguyen Hung won the overall title.

Quyen won the 152km race with a time of 3hr 40.11min, followed by Le Van Duan of HCM City Eximbank and Do Anh Tuan of Domesco Pharmacy Dong Thap 1.

Hung of Eximbank, who wore the yellow jersey in four of five stages of the race, topped the tour with a total time of 16:15.57. Second place went to Pham Phat Dat of the host and Le Van Dong from VTV Can Tho.

Duan won the green jersey for best cyclist with 83 points. Dat was voted the best young rider.

Eximbank won the team title, with a time of 48:48.51. ADC-Vinh Long Television and Dong Thap were second and third, respectively. Nam, Andrzejczuk settle for silver

Vietnamese Ly Hoang Nam and Polish partner Adrian Andrzejczuk won a silver medal at Costa Rica's Coffee Bowl which wrapped up yesterday.

The duo lost 4-6, 6-3, 7-10 to No 3 Nicolas Nicolas (Peru) and Rafael Coutinho (Venezuela) in the final of the boys' doubles.

In the semi-final, Nam and Andrzejczuk successfully sent title favourite Orlando Luz and Joao Menezes of Brazil home after a 6-3, 7-6 victory.

Nam was eliminated in the third round of the singles event on Thursday.

He will continue his tour to the Copa Gatorade in Venezuela starting today.

Japan win under-19 tournament

Japan's national under-19 team triumphed in the international youth football tournament, which wrapped up in HCM City yesterday.

The Asian powerhouse defeated AS Roma lads 1-0 in the final round match of the four-side event at the Thong Nhat Stadium.

In the later match, Tottenham Hospur won 3-2 over Vietnamese squad to take second place.

Sekine Takahiro scored the only goal for Japan three minutes after the break.

An AS Roma defender made a mistake when trying to kick the ball away, giving it to Takahiro, who did not miss his chance.

Goalie Lorenzo Zonfrilli touched the ball but failed to save his net.

Alberto De Rossi's team nearly had an equal at the 72nd minute when Adamo Matteo made a narrow shoot from the right wing. But keeper Takagiwa Toru of Japan successfully blocked it.

Rossi made a series of changes with a view to find a draw result, which would help his team win the event.

The newcomers worked hard but they did not find the net. At the 82nd minute Valerio Trani wasted the most threatening opportunity with a kick that went wide by barely a hair's gap.

In the later match, the U19 of the host played as well as the English representatives, with two goals each for both sides until the 70th mark.

Defender Tran Huu Dong Trieu made a goal during a chaotic in the 5m box. His attempt brought the ball in the net in such a close range that goalie Le Van Truong could not react.

With two wins and one loss, three visitors – Japan, AS Roma and Tottenham Hospur – had six points but the Asian squad took the NutiFood Cup, as they had the best goal

difference, and walked away with US$100,000 in cash.

Tottenham were second and Roma were third, pocketing $70,000 and $30,000 respectively. Hosts Viet Nam lost all three matches and were at the bottom of the ranking table.

Speaking before the final round, the Viet Nam Football Federation acting chairman Le Hung Dung said this event would be organised annually, with the defending champions invited to take part the next year to prevent their crown from being taken.

Viet Nam and Japan will meet each other again in the final of the Asian Football Confederation's U19 Championship in Myanmar later this year.

Viet Nam will tour Belgium and England for four months to prepare for the continental competition. —

Nghe An recruit Cameroon striker

V-League's former champions Song Lam Nghe An have signed on their second foreign player for the new season.

Edouard Ndjodo, a Cameroon striker, is said to be an experienced player who has previously played in Austria, Hungary and Greece.

The 29-year-old has an ideal height of 1.91m, which is believed to be an important asset in playing high balls.

Earlier, his countryman Biyaga Paul Emile joined Nghe An under a one-year contract. The 26-year-old former national team forward played for Haras El-Hodood SC, the best

club in Egypt, before moving to Viet Nam. He was a member of Cameroon's U23 and wore the national jersey in four matches.

The two sportsmen travelled with the whole team on Wednesday to Quang Ninh Province in preparation for their V-League's opening round match against host Quang Ninh Coal today.