Vu Thi Trang joins World top 50

With 1700 points added to her total points, Vietnamese female badminton player Vu Thi Trang jumped to the 49th position in the world based on the Badminton World Federation’s latest figure.

This is the highest position any female Vietnamese badminton player has achieved. Trang achieved a four-step rise compared to her previous ranking.

Meanwhile in the men’s category, Vietnamese top player Nguyen Tien Minh dropped one notch to the 18th position in the world badminton ranking.

U19 Vietnam to compete at AFC Women’s Champs

Vietnam has placed in Group C of the 2015 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualifiers to run from November 5 to 9 at the VFF Youth Football Training Centre in Hanoi.

In Group C, Vietnam will compete against Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Coach Nguyen Duy Hung has fielded a squad of 20 footballers selected from local teams throughout the country.

At the tournament, each team will play in a round-robin format to select a winner in each group to go on to the final of the Championship, set for China next year.

Recently, the U19 Vietnamese women team finished runners-up at the ASEAN Football Federation Under-19 Women's Championship, which took place in Bangkok, Thailand from August 16 to 26.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai replace seniors

Hoang Anh Gia Lai have opted not to re-sign contracts with 20 players in order to use their self-trained athletes in the coming season.

After the success of his U19 team in recent tournaments, Doan Nguyen Duc, owner of the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club and the Hoang Anh Gia Lai-Arsenal JMG Academy, has decided to push the young team to play at the V-League, the national premier league.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai's U19 players, who are key members of the national U19 team, placed second in three recent international competitions

Last week, they won the championship of the annual International U21 Football Tournament in Can Tho City.

The team, which placed ninth in the 2014 V-League, has decided to keep only eight of their senior players.

Minh drops one place in rankings

Top Vietnamese badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh dropped one place to 18th in the world badminton rankings, the sport's governing body announced on Thursday.

Minh's total score remained 42,720.

Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia is now at the top with 97,131 points, followed by Chen Long of China with 87,241 points and Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark with 697,623 points.

On the women's side, Vu Thi Trang rose four steps to 49th place after the qualifying round of the Denmark and France Open.

According to the draw of the Thaihot China Open 2014, to be held on November 11-16, Minh, who has previously held the world No 5 spot in the rankings, will face seed No 1 Chen in the first round.

Olympian Minh isn't seeded in the US$700,000 event, which will attract most of the world's leading players, because he is not in the top 10.

Women's team target top spot

The Viet Nam women's team aim to win top spot in Group C of the Asian Women's U19 Championship qualifier in Ha Noi from November 5 to 9.

Viet Nam will play against Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia in a round-robin format.

The winner of the group will automatically gain a ticket to the finals, where they will meet the qualified teams of South Korea, North Korea, Japan and host China next year.

Cash prizes awarded to Vietnamese medallists at Asiad and APG

Cash prizes totalling over VND1.3 billion (US$61,000) were awarded to Vietnamese medallists at a ceremony in Hanoi on October 30, in recognition of the athletes’ outstanding performances at the 2014 Asian Games (Asiad) and Asian Para Games (APG), held recently in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

The money was sourced from the ‘Join hands with Vietnam sports to conquer 17th Asiad and second APG’ programme, funded by the Vietnam News Agency’s Sports & Culture Newspaper, and Saigon – Ha Noi Insurance Corporation (BSH).

Accordingly, Asiad medal winners received VND50 million, VND30 million and VND15 million for each individual gold, silver and bronze, respectively, while the APG medallists were awarded VND20 million, VND15 million and VND10 million. Cash bonuses for team medals doubled the sum for the individual ones.

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Director of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, Lam Quang Thanh, expressed his pride for the athletes’ achievements at the two largest continental sporting events, and sincerely thanked the sponsors for launching such a meaningful support programme.

The programme reflected social organisations’ attention and combined efforts for Vietnam’s athletes, giving them more power to achieve outstanding results in the future, Thanh said.

At the 2nd APG, the Vietnam disability sport delegation exceeded the envisaged medal target, winning nine golds, seven silvers and 13 bronzes. Powerlifter Le Van Cong impressed with the men’s 49kg title breaking the world record in the same category, while swimmer Vo Thanh Tung made history with his miraculous five-gold tally.

Despite winning just one gold medal and failing to meet the target at the 17th Asiad, Vietnam’s athletes still recorded measurable success with the first Asiad medals in athletics, swimming, boxing, fencing and cycling.

Knee injury sidelines Khanh

Midfielder Dao Duy Khanh will miss his chance to play at this month's ASEAN Football Championship, the Suzuki Cup, because of injury.

Khanh suffered a torn knee ligament in a friendly match between Viet Nam and Bahrain last October 29. Doctors said he needed at least one year to recover.

Khanh is a member of the V-League team Ha Noi T&T and a key player of the national U23 team to which he has been called following his outstanding performance at the recent Asian Games in South Korea.

Khanh will move to Ha Noi on Wednesday for another test before undergoing surgery.

Cambodia hosts table tennis champs

Viet Nam will take part in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Table Tennis Championships in Phnom Penh, Cambodia today.

The team, which includes veterans Mai Hoang My Trang, Nguyen Thi Viet Linh and Tran Tuan Quynh, will seek medals in the men's and women's singles, mixed pair and men's and women's team.

The eight-day regional competition, which drew athletes from eight countries including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, will last until November 8.

Young chess players head for India

Five Vietnamese players will participate in the Asian Youth Chess Championship in New Delhi, India from November 6-14.

Le Minh Hoang and Nguyen Dang Hong Phuc of HCM City will compete in the boys' U14 category, according to the Viet Nam Chess Federation. Nguyen Hoang Anh and Bui Thuy Vy of HCM City will compete in the girls' U16 division, while Tran Le Dan Thuy of Ben Tre plays in the girls' U18 discipline.

Athletes will partake in standard, rapid and blitz events.

Top athletes awarded bonus prize

Athletes who won medals in the recent Asian Games 17th (ASIAD) and Asian Para Games (APG) in Incheon, South Korea were awarded cash prizes totalling over VND1.3 billion (US$61,000) in Ha Noi on Thursday.

The money was sourced from the "Join Hands with Viet Nam Sports to Conquer ASIAD and APG" programme, funded by the Vietnam News Agency's Sports & Culture newspaper and Sai Gon-Ha Noi Insurance Corporation.

With five gold medals earned in the APG, Vietnamese Paralympic swimmer Vo Thanh Tung received a total bonus of VND100 million ($4,700).

Tung will also get a cash prize of VND175 million ($8,300) from the State in the coming days.

VN win silver at beach football event

Viet Nam won the silver medal after losing to Malaysia 6-4 in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Beach Football Championship final in Kuantan, Pahang Darulmakmur, Malaysia, on Wednesday.

Viet Nam were at a disadvantage after Malaysia scored three goals in the first half.

After the break, the visitors improved their game. Bui Tran Tuan Anh scored three goals and Vinh Phong netted one. However, taking full advantage of being the hosts, Malaysia managed to score their sixth goal in the second half.

"We made some mistakes at the beginning, and so we were punished. But we had a good tournament. We definitely learned a lot of things," said Vietnamese coach Dang Quoc Hung.

Earlier, Thailand beat Laos 4-1 to take third place in the tournament, in which eight teams participated.

Viet Nam's team returned home yesterday to prepare for the Asian Beach Games to be held in Thailand next month.

Saigon Heat lose to Malaysia

Fourth-seeded Saigon Heat lost to top-seeded Westports Malaysia Dragons 90-108 in the first game of the 2014 AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League playoff round in MABA Gymnasium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday.

Saigon Heat, who signed up American player Dijon Thompson in preparation for the event, will meet Dragons in the second game on Sunday at the CIS Arena, HCM City.

The Heat are the first professional basketball team in Viet Nam, and are based in HCM City. They hope to reach the final of the tournament being played in Malaysia.

Teams set for volleyball competition

A volleyball tournament in the National Sports Games will be held from December 7-15 in Nam Dinh, Thai Binh and Ha Nam provinces.

The nation's nine best men's and 10 women's bests teams will take part in the eight-day event. Each team will be split into two groups.

According to the draw on Tuesday, men's Group A consists of HCM City, Military, Ninh Binh and Khanh Hoa.

Group B consists of Ha Noi, Long An, Phu Tho, Vinh Long and the Ministry of Public Security.

Women's Group A includes Military, Phu Tho, Thanh Hoa, Vinh Phuc and Hai Duong, while Group B comprises Long An, Thai Binh, HCM City, Ha Noi and Hung Yen.

The final round matches will be held in Nam Dinh. Matches for third-place positions will be in Thai Binh.

Central province launches football club for young female players

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue launched a Norwegian-funded women’s football club on November 1.

The club, attracting more than 100 young players so far, is sponsored by the “Football for All in Vietnam” (FFAV) project, which is implemented by the Football Association of Norway (NFF).

FFAV Director Anders Krystad said the project aims to develop the football skills of disadvantaged children aged between six and 15. Playing sport improves children’s soft skills and helps them grow physically and mentally.

So far, the project has only been implemented at primary and junior high schools. FFAV managers signed an agreement with the Norwegian women’s football club LSK Kvinner to help older players continue pursuing their passion at the newly established club.

In 2014 and 2015, the NFF plans to support Thua Thien-Hue with more than 1 billion VND (over 47,600 USD) to help the province promote the capacity of social protection centres’ staff to coach football and teach soft skills, set up football clubs at the centres, and build a community-based football development model.