Sepak takraw tourney opens

The six-day National Beach Sepak Takraw Championship will be held in Nha Trang City on June 6.

The rattan-ball kicking competition, which lures nearly 100 athletes from six cities and provinces each year, will have men's and women's categories with two divisions in each.

The tournament, to be aired live on VTV3, is one of many planned in the lead-up to the fifth Asian Beach Games in 2016 to be held in central Khanh Hoa Province.

Couples tee off at Tam Dao

Golfers will compete in the tournament for married couples at Tam Dao golf club in the northern Vinh Phuc Province on May 28, the Ha Noi Ladies golf club confirmed yesterday.

Twenty amateur couples will contest a 18-hole one-round competition at the Tam Dao Course, some 70km northwest of Ha Noi, for a total cash prize of VND30 million (US$1,500).

It's the first ever such event that has been organised in Viet Nam.

Organisers said the Ha Noi Ladies club will also hold a match-play final during the couple's tournament.

U-17 tourney to kick off

Ha Noi will host the National U-17 Basketball Championship northern zone qualifiers on May 24-29, Viet Nam Basketball Federation's general secretary Nguyen Quoc Quan said.

The northern zone qualifiers will draw 17 men's and 10 women's teams competing in a round-robin group format.

Four men's and women's teams will qualify for the final round in the southern coastal city of Phan Thiet on July 2-7.

As scheduled, the qualifying rounds will be held in the northern, central, southern and Central Highland regions.

This is the second time the federation has hosted a tournament for youth teams.

VFF to set up referees board

The Viet Nam Football Federation will set up the national referee board to officiate the National Football Championships including V-League, National Cup, First Division and Second Division.

VFF's vice chairman Nguyen Lan Trung said the board, which replaces the National Referees Council, would directly assign referees for all matches of the national championships.

Previously, the National Referees Council operated as a consultancy body of the VFF.

The vice chairman said the world football governing body, FIFA, had asked the VFF to establish a referee board as an independent unit to the national football, V-League organising committee.

ACB edge Hoa Phat 3-2 in Hanoi derby

Lucas Cantoro’s brace helped Hanoi ACB beat Hoa Phat Hanoi 3-2 in the 14th round early match of the V-League at Hang Day stadium May 14.

ACB, who lost 2-1 to Hoa Phat in the Hanoi derby in the first stage of the V-League, dominated the game from the start, producing a lot of opportunities to score.

Lucas Cantoro opened the scoring for ACB with his powerful strike in the 18th minute.

After the goal, ACB continued to put pressure on Hoa Phat.

In a quick attack 10 minutes later, it was Cantoro who scored his second goal for ACB.

Xuan Thanh should have fired the third in the 34th minute when he headed Thanh Luong’s free kick but it was denied by a wonderful stop of goalkeeper Viet Nam.

In a flash counter-attack in the 41st minute, Thanh Luong took advantage of Hoa Phat defender Ngoc Tu’s mistake to score the third goal for ACB.

Right after the break, Hoa Phat pushed in to equalise while ACB played solidly in their defence, waiting for the chances to counterattack.

In the 63rd minute, Henry Kisekka danced around ACB keeper Minh Phong, firing into the far corner.

Encouraged by the goal, Hoa Phat intensified their attacks and Phan Le Issac scored the second goal in the 72nd minute to narrow the gap to 3-2 but it was not enough for Hoa Phat to earn a draw.

With a 3-2 victory over Hoa Phat in the Hanoi derby, ACB temporarily moved into 12th place from 13th.