National Junior Archery Champs underway

The 7th National Junior Archery Championships opened in Soc Trang city on August 3.     

Some 100 athletes from 13 teams nationwide will compete in the ranges of 30m, 50m, 70m and 90m.

The tournament, co-organized by the General Department of Sports and Physical Training and the Soc Trang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, aims to choose the best athletes for the national team.

The championships will last through to August 8.

 National youth handball tournament opens

The 2012 National Youth Handball Tournament, the first event of its kind, officially kicked off at the Quan Ngua Sports Palace in Hanoi on August 1.

The tournament features 13 men’s and women’s teams from Hanoi, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Binh Dinh and Ho Chi Minh City, six of which are competing in the U18 age group and the remaining seven are in the U20 category.

The event aims to promote the sport of handball among young people throughout the country and select promising players for the national team in preparation for upcoming regional and international competitions.

The tournament, co-organised by the Vietnam General Department of Sports and Physical Training, the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Tien Phong (Pioneer) Newspaper, will last until August 8.

Ho Chi Minh City tops national youth xiangqi competition

Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City took first place with a total of 12 gold, nine silver and 12 bronze medals at the 2012 National Youth Xiangqi (Chinese chess) Tournament, which concluded on August 1 in HCM City after seven days of competition.

Hanoi finished second with three golds, four silvers and four bronzes, followed by third place Binh Dinh with one gold medal and two silvers.

This year’s event brought together nearly 340 male and female players representing seven teams from across the country including HCM City, Hanoi, Binh Dinh, Quang Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Da Nang and the Army team.

The participants competed in five age groups ranging from 9 to 18 years old for sets of medals in the traditional and rapid events according to the Swiss system.

The week long tournament, held jointly by the Vietnam Chess Federation and the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, provided a good opportunity to select promising young talents for the national team in preparation for future international competitions.

 Vietnam must to do more to preserve traditional martial arts

Pham Dinh Phong, deputy head of Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts Federation feels that the Government ought to do more to preserve and develop the traditional martial arts of Vietnam, which otherwise may be lost forever.

Mr. Phong, who has contributed a lot towards preserving the quintessential art of Vietnam, said that over the years it has been presented in more than 55 countries and territories in the world and has an increasing number of foreign practitioners.

However, traditional Vietnamese martial arts in general and Tay Son martial arts in particular are in fear of being lost forever, he said. Old books and manuscripts on techniques of martial arts are gradually being lost for lack of proper preservation.

According to Mr. Phong, one of the reasons for this is that authorized organs have no knowledge of this art or the importance of preserving this form of art for posterity.

At present, the only known form of knowledge is being passed down by martial art instructors still living and practicing in the central province of Binh Dinh. However, now they are old and few in number.

Several families used to be good at martial arts, but now none of their family members practice the art.

Hence the Government should pay more attention to preserving and developing the techniques of Vietnamese martial arts, especially the Tay Son style, he said.

Relevant authorities should hold programs to help revive and preserve traditional Vietnamese martial arts, introduce them in schools and in military units for soldiers to practice and improve their health and fighting skills.