Vietnamese swim team earn spots at Youth Olympics

Viet Nam's swim team have earned two slots in the second Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China on August 16-28, the International Swimming Federation has announced.

Huynh The Vi and Lam Quang Nhut will compete in the men's 200m breaststroke and men's 400m freestyle, respectively.

So far, Vietnamese athletes have earned 14 places to compete in this world tournament. Five spots belong to swimmers.

Chau slapped with VFF match ban

Hai Phong captain Nguyen Minh Chau has been banned for four matches following his abusive behaviour to referee Phung Dinh Dung during his team's V-League clash against SHB Da Nang last weekend.

It means the midfielder will miss the rest of the season with only three games remaining. He will also be ruled out of the first round next season.

Chau was fined VND15 million (US$700) for his actions.

The Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) also punished Dong Tam Long An official Le Minh Tri.

Tri acted aggressively towards referee Vo Minh Tri during the match against Thanh Hoa last Saturday.

He will not be allowed to sit in Long An's technical area for the next two matches, and fined VND5 million.

Coach Nguyen Huu Thang of former champions Song Lam Nghe An received a warning from the VFF for running onto the field and shouting at the referee in his team's match against Ha Noi T&T.

Swimmers pocket records, medals

Gold medals and new records put HCM City and Dong Nai swimmers in the spotlight at yesterday's National Junior Championships in Ha Noi.

Tran Duy Khoi of HCM City took two golds on the third day of competition. He also set a new record in the boys' 16-17 year-old 100m backstroke event. He finished in 57.49sec beating the record he set last month at a regional tournament by less than half a second.

His first gold came was in the 200m event.

Tran Thi Hong Cam and Do Thanh Thuan each pocketed two of the Dong Nai team's six gold medals yesterday.

Their outstanding performances were key to pushing the southern province into second place in the team rankings with 11 gold medals.

The HCM City squad hold top slot with 15 gold medals, with Quang Ninh in third with eight.

Viet Nam beat Myanmar in futsal event

Viet Nam beat Myanmar 4-0 in the second match of the sixth edition of the Hangzhou International Futsal Tournament in China yesterday. That Phi, Van Vu, Thanh Dat and Long Vu scored goals in the 23rd, 34th, 35th and 37th minute of the match.

In another match, Iranian junior futsal players defeated China 6-1.

On Tuesday, Viet Nam beat Iran 8-3 and China beat Myanmar 5-0.

Today, Viet Nam will meet China and Myanmar will play Iran.

Futsal players from China, Iran, Myanmar and Viet Nam are participating in the three-day event.

Lienvietpostbank win national volleyball league title

Lienvietpostbank beat Binh Dien Long An in the women's final to win the PV Oil National Volleyball League title in Bac Lieu Gymnasium in Mekong Delta province, Bac Lieu, yesterday.

The team won 3-2 (25-16, 25-27, 25-16, 23-25, 15-8) in a match that lasted nearly two hours.

The bronze medal went to the Vietinbank team.

Earlier, The Cong defeated Duc Long Gia Lai 3-1 (25-11, 25-20, 18-25, 25-14) to win the men's event.

Sanest Khanh Hoa beat Border Guards 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 29-31, 25-23) to finish third.

Twenty-two men's and women's teams took part in the event which was organised in the southern provinces of Bac Lieu and Binh Duong. The winners received VND100 million (US$4,760) each and the runners-up got VND70 million ($3,300) each.

PVF, T&T to vie for U17 national cup

PVF yesterday beat Viettel in the second semi-final match in the national under-17 Bong Da Newspaper Thai Son Nam Cup to book a finals clash with Ha Noi T&T.

PVF claimed the match 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after 90 minutes of full time play.

The earlier semi-final match, which also culminated in a penalty shoot-out, saw Ha Noi T&T overcome Binh Duong 4-2 after a 2-2 draw forced the match into extra time.

Ha Noi T&T entered the semi-final on seven points after three matches and leading table A, while Binh Duong on six points was second in table B.

PVF, second in table A, also had six goals while Viettel, at the top of table B, faced their strongest team before the semi match.

The final will take place on July 25 between PVF and Ha Noi T&T.

National swimming champions smash records in Ha Noi

Five new national records were set on day two of the National Junior Swimming and Finswimming Championship in Ha Noi yesterday.

Nguyen Diep Phuong Tram beat the U13 girls' 50m butterfly record by .06 second at the Aquatic Sports Palace in the National Sports Complex with a time of 28.35 seconds.

In an outstanding performance, Tran Thi Hong Cam smashed the U13 girls' 400m freestyle record of 4:39.97 with a new time of 4:35.54.

The event saw three other previous records cracked.

Tran Tan Trieu stormed the U16 boys' 800m freestyle event with a time of 8:35.66, while Lam Quang Nhut broke the U17 boys' 800m freestyle record with a time of 8:31.08. Phan Gia Man took out the U18 boys' 800m freestyle with a new record of 8:33.87.

HCM City consolidated their lead after the two days with 11 gold medals. Long An were runner-up with six golds, while National Defence Sports Centre 5 came in third on five titles.

Vietnamese chess masters to compete in int'l championship

Viet Nam will defend their title at the Asian Junior U20 Chess Championships in Yemen in August.

All eyes will be on Women's International Master (WIM) Vo Thi Kim Phung as she is the defending champion in both the standard chess and blitz chess categories.

The girl from Hue City will be supported by WIM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, who won a bronze medal last year.

Two months later, the Vietnamese players will compete at the World Junior U20 Championships in Pune, India.

In other news, the National Junior Chinese Chess Championships is scheduled to kick off in Hue City from July 26 to August 3.

Athletes will compete across U19, U18, U15, U13 and U11 age groups in the standard and rapid events.