Thien notches doubles victory in New Zealand ITF championship

Vietnamese teenager Nguyen Hoang Thien and his partner Jack Schipanski of Australia have won the men's doubles event at the Tennis Central U18 ITF Summer Championship in New Zealand.

Thien and Schipanski defeated Mouslay Bradley-Li Tu of Australia 6-3, 6-0 in around 60 minutes on Friday.

Later in the tournament, Thien lost 3-6, 3-6 to his partner in the men's singles semi-finals.

It is the third time in a year that Thien has triumphed in an U18 tournament. The two previous occasions were in Viet Nam.

His victory was a step towards breaking into the top 200 players in the world, a feat he plans to achieve this year.

Thien was the first Vietnamese player to be invited to play in the Australian Open.

Liem on track to defend Moscow championship crown

Liem won his first four games but could only manage to tie with host rival GM Evgeny Tomashevsky in his fifth round match.

The Vietnamese star is right on track to defending his title after defeating tournament favourite and former world champion Gata Kamsky of the US on Friday.

Liem, who is attempting to become the first Vietnamese super IGM this year, will next face GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan who is currently in fourth position.

The tournament will conclude on Saturday with a prize of US$20,000 going to the winner.

Woman striker hangs up her boots

Do Thi Ngoc Cham, the national women's football team's star striker, has announced her retirement from the sport at just 26 to pursue a coaching career.

Cham, who recently signed on as assistant coach of Ha Noi team, had helped the team win a gold medal at the National Games last December.

Winner of the Golden Ball in 2008, she was the main striker for the national and Ha Noi teams in recent years.

Ha Noi-born Cham began to play competitive football in 1999 when she joined the Soc Son District Sports Centre.

She began to play for Ha Noi in 2001 and a year later was named in the national team for the Asian Games.

Ngoc Tu to compete for Gia Lai

Soc Trang's judoka Van Ngoc Tu is completing the necessary procedures to play for Gia Lai, after signing a VND10 million (US$500) a month contract.

Tu is nearly unrivalled at Southeast Asian (SEA) region following the 23rd SEA Games.

The four-time SEA champion officially ended her contract with Soc Trang provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism last December.

HCM City to spend $350,000 on youth

HCM City will spend VND7 billion (US$350,000) to train young players this year, mainly in training and competing abroad.

Young talents will also be given top priority, with 16-year-old tennis player Nguyen Hoang Thien, who is competing at the 2011 Tennis Central 18&U ITF Summer Championships in New Zealand, set to receive $30,000.

Thien was ranked 241st in the world according to the latest world ranking table by the International Tennis Federation.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News