Adi Pratama to practise with top seeded Nguyen Tien Minh

HCM City will hire Indonesian Adi Pratama to practise with the country's top player Nguyen Tien Minh to help him achieve a high level of fitness before the London Olympics.

Nguyen Tien Minh.
As part of the plan, approved by the HCM City and Viet Nam Badminton Federations, Pratama, the world No 286 who played in the quarter-final of the world youth event in 2007, will train with Minh from June 22 to July 22.

The municipal federation will spend US$4,500 to have Pratama practise with Minh, currently world No 11.

Pratama was chosen due to other top players being unavailable at the time.

The HCM City-born player will compete in the Singapore and Indonesia Open before going to London.

Local players to compete at Asian Beach Games

Viet Nam's male basketball team will take part as part of Group C at the third Asian Beach Games, according to the official draw on Tuesday.

The team will compete against India, Bangladesh and China. Group A consists of Bhutan, Mongolia, Thailand and Qatar, while Group B includes Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Nepal and Palestine.

In the beach handball event, Viet Nam's male team drew in Group B, while the women's team was placed in Group A.

In the beach sepaktakraw event, a strong point for the country, the Viet Nam women's team will compete with Indonesia, Thailand and China. In the men's regu, Viet Nam are in Group B with China and Thailand, while the women's team will play China, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos.

The event will run from June 16-22 in China and will feature 49 events in 13 sports.

Return to Countryside cycling event to kick off

The "Return to the Countryside" cycling tournament, or the An Giang Plant Protection Cup, is scheduled to kick off tomorrow.

The seven-day event, which will attract 80 athletes from 17 teams including Cambodia, will last until May 17.

Cyclists will pedal through eight provinces and cities including An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Can Tho, Soc Trang and Hau Giang over a total 635km.

Hanoi tops National Archery Tournament

The Hanoi archery team finished first at the 2012 National Archery Tournament which ended on May 9.

The host took the lead with 12 gold, 11 silver, and 12 bronze medals, followed by Haiphong with 7 golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze, and HCM City with 5 gold, 4 silver, and 4 bronze medals.

The week-long event offered a good opportunity for archers from across the country to improve their professional skills in preparation for domestic and international tourneys.

VNN/VNS/VOV