Masters set for showdown

Vietnamese masters will take part in the first Southeast Asian Individual Chess Championship in Singapore next week.

The tournament will be held every two years by the Southeast Asian Chess Federation with a view of developing the regional chess movement.

Eight or nine delegations will join this debut event, which is also an opportunity for players to warm up ahead of the next December's SEA Games in Indonesia.

General Secretary of the Viet Nam Chess Federation Dang Tat Thang said Viet Nam would participate in both men's and women's categories.

After the championship, the Vietnamese players will enjoy a short break before being summoned in early 2011 to a range of international tournaments.

Seminar spotlights VN taekwondo

How to boost the capacity of Vietnamese taekwondo athletes and improve Viet Nam-South Korea co-operation in this martial art topped the agenda of a seminar in Ha Noi on Saturday.

The seminar was co-organised by the Viet Nam Taekwondo Federation (VTF), the South Korean Cultural Centre and the South Korean Taekwondo Instructors Association (RTIA) in Viet Nam.

Head of RTIA in Viet Nam Kim Jung-sik said the athletes' rapid adaptability to scientific devices and modern technology plays an important role in achieving success, as they help them to achieve high results in international and regional competitions.

This is a lesson the Korea has drawn from its failures at ASIAD 16, especially after one of the country's athletes lost to his Iranian rival because he had yet to adapt to changes in the electronic breastplates.

VTF General Secretary Truong Ngoc De said Viet Nam needed to build effective competition methods and improve the quality of athlete selection if it wanted to regain its top regional position and win gold medals in ASIAD and the London Olympics in 2012.

Taekwondo has developed strongly in Viet Nam in recent years, with more than 40,000 athletes training across the country.

Japanese perform martial arts

The Japanese Embassy, in co-ordination with the Aikido Yukishudokan and Kendo Ha Noi Clubs, held an Aikido and Kendo performance in the capital on Saturday.

Speaking at the event, Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Yasuaki Tanizaki said that Aikido and Kendo were Japan's two traditional martial arts which represent the unique cultural identity of people from the country of cherry blossoms.

He expressed his wish that the performance would help Vietnamese people, especially young people, understand more about the Japanese culture, and strengthen the friendship and mutual understanding between the two nations.

Formed 1,200 years ago, Kendo uses bamboo sticks to attack with the aim of strengthening physical and spiritual health as well as improving concentration in study and work.

VN plan for extra height, fitness

The Viet Nam Sport Science Institute has submitted details of a proposed pilot project titled, Improving the Strength and Height of the Vietnamese People, to the Government for approval.

Former Viet Nam Sport Science Institute director Duong Nghiep Chi, who chaired the committee which designed the project, said the plan included ways to improve the fitness of Vietnamese sportsmen and women from next year until 2030.

"We sent the revised plan, which was started in 2000, to the Government early this week and I hope it will soon approve the project," he said.

The project was designed to benefit sports persons as well as help sports administrators scout for talent.

A survey the former director sponsored found that Vietnamese from six to 18 were weaker than Southeast Asians and Asians of the same age.

The proposed project includes a programme to enhance the strength and height of more than 33,000 students from 132 schools throughout Viet Nam.

It is intended to encourage them to take full advantage of nutrition regimes, exercise plans and selected sports.

It would also have sites reserved for the construction of sports complexes for after-school activities.

PV