U-19s top Asian qualifiers

Viet Nam's U-19 women's football team overcame Iran 2-0 in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Women's Championship qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Striker Nguyen Thi Lieu scored the opening goal just eight minutes into the game, while Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung added the second on the 35th minute. In the second half, Viet Nam had a number of good chances but they failed to capitalise on them.

Having crushed Uzbekistan 3-0 in their opening match, Viet Nam now top their qualifying group with six points, two points clear of Thailand who drew 2-2 with Uzbekistan on Monday.

As scheduled, Viet Nam will meet Chinese Taipei tomorrow, Oct 28, before taking on Thailand on Saturday.

The teams is competing in a round robin format and the group winners will go on to play in the finals next year.

Minh faces hard road in ASIAD

Badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh has been drawn in the same half of the draw as China's world No 2 Lin Dan in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou next month.

Nguyen Tien Minh.

If Minh wins, he will face Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk who defeated the Vietnamese in their clash in the 25th Southeast Asian Games' quarter-finals last December. Minh later took his revenge defeating the Thai in the last 16 of the Indonesia Super Series in June.

Minh is scheduled to play Lin Dan in the quarter-finals. He has never defeated his Chinese rival.

Olympic squad scraps friendlies

Viet Nam's men's Olympic football team will prepare for Asian Games at home without any international warm-up matches.

According to the schedule, Viet Nam were supposed to play friendlies with Qatar and Thailand Olympic teams on October 27 and 31, but the plans were cancelled.

The unexpected change forced the Olympic team to train at My Dinh Sports Complex in Ha Noi. They will find a suitable team as a test to make adjustments before flying to Guangzhou on November 5.

Injured Giang, Truong need rest

Olympic football team member Nguyen Thanh Long Giang needs several days rest because of a thigh injury.

Giang suffered a torn muscle during an intensive training session with his team for the Asian Games (ASIAD). Following initial tests, doctors have said he will be out of action for at least two weeks, which presents a selection headache for coach Henrique Calisto.

His teammate, goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong, has also been advised to rest for up to a week due to a twisted knee.

Team doctors believe both players will be fit enough to take part in ASIAD.

Vietnamese score big chess wins

Two International Grand Masters (IGM) Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son won their first matches at the Cap D'Agde Rapid Chess Tournament in France, which kicked off over the weekend.

The two IGMs both overcame adversity during their opening matches to secure wins.

Liem, who plays in group B, beat Norway's Job Ludvig Hammer during the first match, while Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son also edged out France's Sophie Milliet in a group A match on Sunday.

The win will hopefully boost Son's confidence before he battles against formidable opponents, including Russian giant Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Ivanchuk from Ukraine, Bu Xiangzhi from China and Judith Polgar from Hungary.

Do wins VCCI golf cup in Ha Noi

Tran Ngoc Do with an overall score of 76 took the top prize at the VCCI Golf Challenge organised at the King's Island Golf Course on Sunday in Ha Noi.

Hoang Hai Au won the first prize in Division A which included participants whose handicap varied from 0 to 16; while Do Viet Hung triumphed in Division B which saw golfers with handicaps from 16-32.

Both Au and Hung earned a net score of 70.

The women's cup went to Dang Thi Hue from Vietnam Airlines.

The annual tournament, which was sponsored by the Tung Shing Group, also included prizes for the longest drive and drive nearest the hole.

VN women cruise through qualifiers

A perfect campaign sent Vietnamese team to the second qualifier of the 2011 Asian women's under-16 football championship on Sunday.

The team won all four matches, scoring 33 goals. They did not concede a single goal in the first qualifying round that wrapped up on Sunday at the Umak Stadium in the Philippines.

The young girls easily thrashed their opponents by a large margin. The team beat Singapore 9-0 in the opening game and then demolished Timor Leste 16-0.

The girls continued to overcome host team Philippines 3-0 before completing a perfect campaign with a 5-0 victory over direct rivals Guam in the last match.

The second qualifiers will take place in Bangkok on December 2-12.

Long An sign Argentinian coach

Dong Tam Long An football club announced its new coach on Saturday. The club signed a one-year contract with Argentinian coach Marcelo Javier Juleta at an undisclosed salary.

The 56-year-old coach has international coaching experience when he once coached teams at Greece, El Salvador, Albania and Arabia as well as national teams of Haiti and Nicaragua.

Long An will have a two-week training trip to Dubai of the United Arab Emirates and play four friendlies with clubs there to prepare for the new V-League 2011 season.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News