Wrestling draw ceremony to be held on Saturday

The London Olympics wrestling draw ceremony will take place at Grange St-Paul Hotel on Saturday, according to the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles.

The Greco-Roman competitions will open the Games on August 5-7, followed by freestyle ones on August 8-9.

Nguyen Thi Lua, the only Vietnamese athlete in the wrestling competition, is scheduled to take part in the women's 48kg freestyle qualification round on August 8.

There are 266 male and 72 female wrestlers competing at the Olympics.

Int’l Vovinam Festival opens

The fourth International Vovinam (traditional Vietnamese martial arts) Festival has opened with an impressive show in the central province of Binh Dinh.   

It involves 725 martial artists from 69 delegations of 27 countries and territories over the world.

Present at the opening ceremony were Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Huynh Ngoc Son, representatives from central and local agencies and thousands of domestic and foreign visitors.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on August 1, Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan expressed hope that the festival will strengthen friendship and solidarity among martial arts lovers in the world, and that martial arts will be introduced into the educational curriculum at school in coming years.

During the three-day festival, exchanges among martial artists, seminars, exhibitions, art performances and other events will be held.

VN football team gathers to prepare for AFF Cup

The national women's football team gathered in Ha Noi yesterday, Aug 1, to start a training course in preparation for the 2012 ASEAN Football Federation Cup.

Coach Chen Yun Fat has mixed experience with youth in his team.

The players will have three friendlies against under-14 teams of T&T, Ha Noi and Viettel.

On August 31, they will leave for China's Kunming and play two friendly matches against a local team before arriving in HCM City for the tournament on September 13-22. Viet Nam have been drawn in Group A with Myanmar, Singapore and the Philippines.

Group B comprises of Thailand, Laos, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Viet Nam finished third at the AFF Cup last year in Laos.

U15 football tournament kicks off in August

The final round of the National Under-15 Football Tournament will be held on August 15-25 at Thong Nhat and Phu Nhuan stadiums in HCM City.

Eight teams have been divided into two groups. Group A includes the Promotion Fund of Vietnamese Football Talents team, Ha Noi, Song Lam Nghe An and Dong Thap Rubber Corporation. In Group B, Viettel join Lam Dong, Long An and Ha Noi T&T.

The winning team will receive VND50 million (US$2,400). The second and third placed team will get VND30 million ($1,440) and VND25 million ($1,200), respectively.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News