Junior Thien to compete in Australian Open in Melbourne

Nguyen Hoang Thien.
Nguyen Hoang Thien has earned a berth in the Australian Open junior category which starts on January 24 in Melbourne.

Thien, who will be 16 in March, jumped 111 places in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings released on Monday, from 323 to 212.

Thien is the first Vietnamese player to compete at one of the four grand slams.

He has set a target of breaking into the top 200 this year, and will warm up for the Open by taking part in the Loy Yang Traralgon International on January 15-20 in Traralgon, Australia.

Amateur tennis players to contest SMiC Cup

Amateurs will compete for the Tennis Open-SMiC Cup at the FLC Golfnet Club in Ha Noi this weekend.

The tournament became an annual event on Viet Nam Tennis Federation's calendar last year, and will see players competing in men's and women's doubles. The winning pair will pocket VND10 million (US$500).

VTV-Binh Dien Volleyball Cup begins in Dong Nai

The annual International Women's Volleyball Championships will start tomorrow in the southern province of Dong Nai with the spotlight firmly focused on the Australian team.

The tournament, which is also known as the VTV-Binh Dien Cup, will see the participation of three domestic and four foreign teams competing in a round robin format before the top four teams progress to the semi-finals.

Viet Nam will be represented by Military Signal Corps, Vietsov Petro and VTV-Binh Dien Long An, while Australia will be joined by teams from Jiangsu Province and Tianjin University in China and Thai club Lopburi.

The Australian team will feature professional players from European clubs and are the hot favourites.

Vietsov Petro will play Tianjin University in the opening match and the final will held on January 16. The winners of the tournament will walk away with VND200 million (US$10,000).

Referee Dung chosen to train in English Premier League

Young referee Dinh Van Dung has been selected to take part in a training course organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in England.

The Dong Nai-based official was of the top five referees on an AFC training course in 2008 and will train with 15 colleagues from the Premier League from January 15-22.

Last year, Dung was the leading official for the opening game of the International Youth Football Tournament – Sanix Cup between Japan and China.

He was praised for completing a successful job with confidence and accurate decisions by Pirom Anprasert, a prestigious AFC lecturer.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News