Tien Minh defeats Indonesia’s rival

Vietnam’s world seventh-seeded Tien Minh has defeated Indonesia’s player Tommy Sugiarto, who is placed 18th in the world rankings for single men’s events, at the French Open Badminton Tournament, which opened in Paris on October 25.

On October 26, Tien Minh tried his best in the first set to get a close score of 22-20 against Sugiarto.

In the second set, Tien Minh demonstrated his superiority by smashing his rival 21-14.

Tien Minh is scheduled to play either India’s Kashayap Parupalli or China’s Shon Wan Ho, who are considered underdogs.

However, experts believe it will be more difficult for him to enter the next rounds as he is likely to meet world number one badminton player Lee Chong Wei.

Coach Goetz ready to field an impressive team

Coach Falko Goetz has decided not to have three players included in the U23 men’s football team which began the final training camp in HCM City on October 26 before leaving for the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia next month.

Defenders Nguyen Tan Cong, Pham Van Nam and Tran Tan Dat, did not get the German’s nod after playing in the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Cup last week.

None of them played in any of the matches in the VFF Cup though Nam and Dat were with the team since the first training camp in September for the international tournament in HCM City.

Goetz will have to drop two more out of the 23 players at the camp before the team leaves for Jakarta on October 31 in quest of the gold medal that had eluded them since 1995 despite reaching the final five times.

Chartered flights to take VN football fans to Indonesia's SEA Games

The Vietnamese Football Supporters' Association will co-ordinate with Viet Nam Airlines to charter special flights for Vietnamese football fans wanting to attend the SEA Games in Indonesia next month.

Viet Nam Airlines will operate two flights from Ha Noi and HCM City on November 19 if Viet Nam secures a place in the semi-finals.

"If the national U-23 team makes the semi-finals at the SEA Games, there will be about 1,100 fans flying to Indonesia to support the team," said Tran Song Hai, deputy chairman of the association.

If the team makes the finals, there will be two more flights on November 21.

The association will screen qualifying round matches on large screens at HCM City's Hoa Lu Stadium and Ha Noi's Giang Vo Exhibition Centre.

As the favourites in Group B, Viet Nam will compete against the Philippines, Myanmar, East Timor, Brunei and Laos.

Group A, in turn, will consist of defending champions and favourites Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and underdogs Cambodia.

As the runner-up team from the last Games, Viet Nam have been seeded second at this year's tournament.

Vietnam to play Brunei at unearthly hour

The 26th SEA Games is held from Nov.11-22 in IndonesiaVietnam’s group B football match against Brunei at the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia on November 11 has been advanced to 8am from the original 7pm to avoid a clash with the opening ceremony.

The organizing committee, Inasoc, have informed television stations in the 11 member-nations about the change but not sports authorities there.

The change will mean the two teams will have to get up at least at 5am to have breakfast and prepare for the match, possibly upsetting the players’ biorhythms.

It is conceivably the first ever time in the history of world football that an international match will be played at this unearthly hour.

Malaysian TV station Astro protested strongly saying the change would screw up their broadcast schedules.

Vietnam’s German coach Falko Goetz said he had yet to hear from the country’s football governing body, the VFF and “will wait to hear from the VFF before making any comments about the change.”

Vietnam and Brunei are drawn along with Myanmar, Laos, Philippines, and Timor Leste.

Group A has defending champion Malaysia, hosts Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Cambodia.

Vietnam take on the Philippines on November 3, the opening day of the football event and a full eight days before the opening ceremony.

TA