Liem to defend HDBank chess title

Le Quang Liem will return home to defend his title at the coming HDBank Chess Tournament on March 7-14 in HCM City.

Liem who is studying in the United States is the world No 37. He will compete against 61 other masters in the Open category. The Challenge pool will have 50 rivals.

Apart from the top national athlete, there are many other Vietnamese masters who will participate in the annual competition which delivers a cash bonus of US$40,000.

Players named for Olympic qualifying round

Coach Mai Duc Chung has announced the names of 20 players of the national women's football team who will compete in the coming Olympic qualifying round in Japan.

The squad comprises three strikers, six midfielders, eight defenders and three goalkeepers.

They will leave for the third qualifying round in Osaka on Friday.

Viet Nam are in Group A. Their first match is against China on February 29, followed by a match against Australia on March 2, North Korea on March 4, the hosts on March 7 and South Korea two days later.

The top two teams of the round will qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Minh becomes Mizuno brand ambassador

Badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh on February 22 signed a US$50,000 contract with Japanese sport brand Mizuno in Ha Noi.

The national number one player will be Mizuno's brand ambassador in 2016. In exchange, Mizuno pledges to sponsor the clothes, rackets, competition fees and travelling expenses of the world No 42.

Minh, who was excited with his new contract, said he had several plans for the future but, first of all, he would try to play well at the Brazil Olympics with Mizuno's support.

"Minh is a sporting talent. He has contributed a lot to Viet Nam in general and badminton in particular. He is at a disadvantage compared to athletes of other countries. We hope to accompany, share and encourage him in his journey to bring Vietnamese badminton to the world," Tong Duc Thuan, a representative of the sponsor, said.

Minh, who will become the first Vietnamese player to compete in three Olympic Games, will take part in 16 international competitions this year.

Nam faces Wang in China

Vietnamese representative Ly Hoang Nam has been pushed to the main round of the International Tennis Federation Men's Futures F2 in China which started yesterday in Anning City.

Nam will first play Tak Khunn Wang of France, who is seeded No 8 here, in the singles event.

Yesterday his teammate Trinh Linh Giang was defeated 2-6, 3-6 by Jeson Patrombon of the Philippines.

The China event offers US$10,000 to the winners with the final is scheduled on Sunday.