UFC suspends Cung Le for nine months

Middleweight fighter Cung Le has been suspended from the UFC for nine months after testing positive for human growth hormone following his August 23 loss in Macau.

Le, 42, will have to submit a clean drug test before being reinstated to the UFC. The suspension is retroactive to the date of the fight.

35-year-old Briton Michael Bisping stopped Vietnamese American Le just under a minute into the fourth round to maintain his position in the UFC's top 10 middleweight rankings.

Saigon Heat lose to Singapore Slinger 65-79

Saigon Heat lost to Singapore Slinger 79-65 in the 2014 AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League at the OCBC Arena in Singapore on Wednesday.

Following the loss, the team are now fourth out of six teams, with Hi-Tech Bangkok City in the lead followed by Westports Malaysia Dragons and Slingers.

Saigon Heat only have a short rest before they face the Dragons today at the MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

ASIAD 17: Vietnam wins two bronze medals in taekwondo

Vietnamese female martial artists Ha Thi Nguyen and Pham Thi Thu Hien brought home two bronze medals from the 2014 Asian Games (ASIAD 17) in the Republic of Korea (RoK) on October 2.

Both faced rivals from the RoK in the semi-finals.

Thu Hien failed in her bid to defeat Lee Dabin 2-9 securing a bronze medal in the 62kg category. Ha Thi Nguyen lost to Lee Wonjin 2-5 in the 67kg event.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese male martial artist Le Huynh Chau came up short, losing to Thai rival Kitwijarn 1-4 in 63kg category.

In the medal tally, Vietnam now has a grand total of 35 medals.

Vietnam readies for U19 AFC Championship

The Vietnam U19 football squad is just about to depart for Myanmar to compete in the 2014 U19 Asian Football Championship (AFC) taking place from October 9 to 23.

The team has learned valuable lessons from recent international tournament play and training at the Ham Rong Sport Centre in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai.

“They are now mentally and physically prepared for the challenges at the U19 AFC Championship 2014,” Vietnam Football Federation Vice Chairman Doan Nguyen Duc said.

In Group C, Vietnam is set to face off with strong rivals the Republic of Korea on October 9, Japan on October 11 and China two days later.

Winning a medal at the U19 AFC Championship 2014 is the first step towards securing a playoff spot to the 2015 U20 World Cup.

Vietnamese players crash out in badminton tourney

Unseeded Jinn Yee Tan of Malaysia knocked out 11th seed Le Ha Anh of Viet Nam in the men's singles at the Viet Nam International Badminton Series yesterday.

Tan, who is ranked 444th in the world, completed a 21-14, 22-20 victory in just 30 minutes to make it through to the second round.

Top seed Andre Marteen of Indonesia cruised to victory against local player Tran Trong Hung in the other men's singles match at Da Nang's Tuyen Son Sports Centre.

The Indonesian, who won the first set 21-8, was leading 7-1 in the second when the Vietnamese player retired from injury.

Third seeds Duong Duc Bao and Thai Thi Hong Gam enjoyed a 2-0 win (21-8, 21-16) in their match against Yu Chieh Hsu and Jing Ja Je of Chinese Taipei in the mixed doubles.

Their main rivals Chee Tean Tan and Shevon Jemie Lai also eased past Shang Kai Lin and Hsin Yu Tsai of Chinese Taipei in two sets. 

Hanoi Moi run for peace

As many as 1,200 people are expected to participate in the annual open marathon sponsored by Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi) newspaper around Ho Guom (Sword Lake) in Hanoi on October 5.

Leaders of the Hanoi municipal People’s Committee and foreign ambassadors to Vietnam will ceremoniously sign a flag of peace.

The annual running event is one of the capital city’s key sport activities to celebrate the 69th anniversary of Vietnam’s August Revolution and National Day (September 2), the 60th anniversary of the city’s Liberation Day, 15th anniversary of UNESCO recognition of Hanoi  as the City for Peace and the 57th anniversary of New Hanoi Newspaper’s inaugural daily.

Women’s football team receives reward from Hanoi

The Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee has rewarded the Vietnamese female football squad with VND1 billion on the occasion of the top 4 finish at the 2014 Asian Games (ASIAD 17).

The award is seen as a great source of encouragement for the team which showed all of its tireless efforts in touch matches at ASIAD 17.