27 national records set at National Swimming and Diving Cup

Twenty-seven national records were set in the 25 metre long pool at the 2011 National Swimming and Diving Cup, which wrapped up in Thua Thien – Hue province on March 24 after eight days of competition.

Nine new national records were set in swimming, 18 in diving and four in combination events.

The team from Ho Chi Minh City came first in the swimming events with 17 gold, 14 silver and eight bronze medals, followed by Da Nang with 12 golds, three silvers and seven bronzes. Quang Binh ranked third with four golds, four silvers and two bronzes.

In diving, Hanoi topped the medal tally with 12 golds, five silvers and eight bronzes. Ho Chi Minh City was second with six golds, six silvers and six bronzes, while Da Nang, with four gold, five silver and three bronze medals, ranked third.

The tournament, held jointly by the General Department of Sports and Physical Training and the Thua Thien – Hue provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, drew the participation of 152 athletes in 19 teams from across the country.

VTV to bid for Euro 2012 broadcasting rights

The Vietnam Television Station (VTV) will be the only station in Vietnam to bid for the rights to broadcast the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2012.

VTV made the announcement after it talked with its main rival in Vietnam, the Vietnam Television Corporation (VTC).

VTV said it would submit its bid to Sportfive, an international sports rights marketing agency, to acquire the broadcasting rights.

VTV said it would not offer US$5 million as expected by Sportfive however, saying Sportfive would still make big profits at $3 million.

After obtaining the rights, VTV would share them with VTC and other local TV stations, including the Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) and the Vietnam Cable Television (VCTV).

Karate champion arrested on drug charge

Vuong Thanh Le, a former national karate champion and a current coach at the Nghe An Province Sports Training Center was captured last Saturday for drug dealing.

31-year-old Le is an addict and a dealer, according to senior lieutenant colonel Tran Si Phang, deputy head of the Vinh City Police in the central province of Nghe An.

Le was arrested at 2.30pm on March 22 in front of the centre by the ward police who had been following him.

Upon searching Le’s body, the police found a bag of white powder, suspected to be heroin.

After winning the national karate championship in 2003, Le was offered a coaching position at the Nghe An sports training center.

He was captured just 5 days after he had been selected by the center to study at the University of Sports Education.

Vietnam top Olympics Asian qualifiers’ group A

The Vietnamese national women’s football team tied 1-1 with hosts Taiwan in a game of formality on Sunday after they had won a ticket two days before to advance to the second round of qualification at the London Olympics Asian zone.

Vietnam pocket 10 points after four matches and lead the group of five. Earlier, the team had beaten Hong Kong 4-0, Myanmar 2-0 and Thailand 2-1.

Thailand ranked second with 9 points after beating Hong Kong 4-0 in the fourth match-day yesterday. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Myanmar follow on the table.

With the results, Vietnam and Thailand will progress to join Iran and Jordan from group C and Uzbekistan from fray B to fight in the second round.

The winning team of the second qualification round will advance to the third round from September 1-11 with the top five teams of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games edition including Japan, China, South Korea, North Korea and Australia.

And only the top two of the 6 teams in the final round of qualification will advance to the 2012 London Olympics.