Chess players target three golds at 26th SEA Games

The Vietnamese chess team aims to win at least three gold medals out of the nine categories at the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia to be held in November.

Apart from Le Quang Liem who recently won the 2011 Spice Cup tournament in Texas, USA, the other 11 players are training at the Ho Chi Minh City sports training centre for the region’s largest sporting event.

Chess was first included in the list of competing sports at the 2003 SEA Games held in Vietnam where host chess players bagged 4 gold medals.

Two years later, Vietnamese players set a record of eight gold medals at another SEA Games held in the Philippines.

Tien Minh says farewell to French tourney

Vietnam’s top badminton player, Nguyen Tien Minh, suffered a sudden 2-1 loss to the Republic of Korea’s Shon Wan Ho in the second round of the French Open Badminton Tournament in Paris on October 27.

Tien Minh competes in French open badminton tournament

Minh performed well to overwhelm his RoK rival 21-12 in the first set. He was expected to end the game with a win in the second set.

However, Shon Wan Ho came from behind to defeat Minh 21-18 and 21-14 in the following sets to end a bitter game for the Vietnamese player.

Minh slipped to eighth place in the World Badminton Federation (WBF)’s latest rankings.

After this tournament, Minh will fly back to Vietnam to prepare for the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia in November.

Vietnamese sports delegation set for 26th SEA Games

The General Department of Sports and Physical Training and the Vietnam Olympics Committee held a ceremony at the Hanoi Opera House on the evening of October 30 to see off a Vietnamese delegation to the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia.

The Vietnamese sports delegation to the 26th SEA Games has 857 members, including 608 athletes who will compete at 37 events and 6 sub-events for 70 gold medals or more to be placed in the first group.

Addressing the ceremony, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh urged the Vietnamese athletes to perform well at the Games, uphold their national pride, and strengthen friendship with the host Indonesians and other foreign sports delegations.

Viet Nam fix sights on Indonesia gold

The national Under-23 football team left for Indonesia today on its quest for a SEA Games gold medal.

Consisting of three goalkeepers, eight defenders, six midfielders and four strikers in total, the squad will face its first challenge against the Philippines as part of Group B on Thursday at the Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium in Palembang.

Other group teams include Laos, Brunei, East Timor and Myanmar.

Team coach Falko Goetz, despite his worries regarding injured defenders Nguyen Thanh Long Giang and Xuan Hieu and forward Hoang Dinh Tung, remains confident of positive results.

"While there is no pressure to win gold, we will still play to the best of our abilities. Believe in us!" Goetz said during a final training session at HCM City's Thong Nhat Stadium.

"We thank people in advance for their support during the coming days in Indonesia. We are more than well prepared. Despite my current injury I believe I'll be recovered in time to help Viet Nam achieve victory," Giang commented.

Goalie Tuan Manh, with a Vietnamese map tattooed on his right arm, said: "We are extremely excited and hope to achieve our goal of a gold medal at the tournament. I plan to do my utmost in defending the net."

Viet Nam, since its inauguration 52 years ago in Thailand, have yet to triumph at the SEA Games.

The national squad has been promised US$1 million in case of victory at this year's event.

U-23s fine tuned for SEA Games clash

The Vietnamese U-23 football team have wrapped up their final training camp for next month's SEA Games in Indonesia.

"The team have showed progress after the HCM City international football tournament and Viet Nam Football Federation Cup international football tournament in Ha Noi," German coach Falko Goetz told the media in HCM City on Friday.

But there are a few worries with key players Nguyen Thanh Long Giang, and Nguyen Dinh Tung picking up minor injuries at the camp.

"I am working to make sure that all the players are at their peak in Indonesia, fit and focused," the former German national defender said.

Viet Nam play the Philippines in their first match in group B on November 3. They then take on Myanmar on the 5th, Timor Leste on the 9th, Brunei on the 11th, and Laos on the 14th.

The Philippines, who have many players of foreign origin like Spanish defender Carlos Alberto de Murga, Germans Roland Mueller and Manny Ott, and Belgian Jeffrey Christaens, are expected to be tough opponents.

"I cannot say anything about the other teams in the group, but I would like to play a strong team in the opening game because it will force players to play with concentration and determination," he said.

The two top teams in each group will qualify for the semifinals, with Viet Nam, the Philippines, and Myanmar the favourites in their group.

The battle for the semifinals is expected to be very fierce in group A which has hosts Indonesia, defending champion Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

The semifinals will be on November 19 and the final on the 21st, a day before the closing ceremony.

National U19 football tournament to kick off

So far, 14 squads nationwide have registered to take part in the National U19 Football Tournament (Kova Paint Cup 2012).

U19 Vietnam comes second in AFF Youth Champs

According to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), the organizing board will continue receiving applications for the competition until mid-November 2011.

The participating teams will be divided into three groups and compete on a round robin format from December 2-15, 2011 and from December 30, 2011 to January 12, 2012 for the first and second leg rounds, respectively.

Eight top winners will be selected to enter the final. The venue and time for the final will be announced at a later date.

TA