U19 Lille draw with U19 Vietnam

U19 Lille were held to a 0-0 draw by underdogs U19 Vietnam in a friendly in France on April 10.

Lille, that are currently topping the France U19 football championship, took control of the match, but did not carve out any scoring chances.

Meanwhile, U19 Vietnam welcomed back Thanh Tung and Hong Duy who had recovered from injuries. Coach Guillaume Graechen made several substitutions to improve Vietnam’s performance.

However, no goals were scored by either side.

After the friendly, U19 Vietnam returned to Belgium for their ongoing training session, and they are scheduled to play another friendly with the Vietnamese students’ team in Belgium on April 12.

On April 22 the team will fly back to Hanoi, concluding their 51-day long tour of Europe.

PV Oil Volleyball League to begin in July

The top 12 men's and 10 women's teams will take part in the PV Oil Volleyball League.

The tournament will be held in the southern provinces of Bac Lieu and Binh Duong from July 13 to 27.

The teams will be divided into two groups and will compete in a one-round format.

The winner will walk away with a cash prize of VND100 million, or US$4,700, while the runners-up will receive VND70 million, or $3,300, and VND30 million, or $1,400.

According to the draw held yesterday, Cao Su Phu Rieng, Lienvietpostbank Information, VTV Binh Dien Long An, Bai Bang Paper Mill and Hai Duong will be in the women's Group A, while Group B will consist of PVD Thai Binh, Vietinbank, Tien Nong Thanh Hoa, HCM City's Tan Binh and Air Defense-Air Force.

In the men's side, Military Zone 4, The Cong-Army Corps 15, Maseco HCM City, Sanest Khanh Hoa, Long An and Military Zone 9 will be in Group A, while Group B will have Vinh Long, Duc Long Gia Lai, Trang An Ninh Binh, Border Guards, Phu Tho Police and Military Zone 5.

Tran Duc Phan, general secretary of the Viet Nam Volleyball Federation, said that the teams will sharpen their skills in the tournament to get high bonuses.

Hue to hold tennis championships

The National Tennis Team Championships will be organised from April 13 to 18 in Hue City.

The tournament for men will follow the Davis Cup formula, while the Fed Cup rules will apply for the women.

HCM City are the defending champions in both categories.

The team championships are one of three biggest events of the year under the Viet Nam Tennis Federation.

Hai out with dislocated shoulder

Midfielder Nguyen Thanh Hai of V-League Dong Tam Long An will have to rest till the end of the season.

Hai suffered a dislocated shoulder after a clash with Hoang Van Binh of Binh Duong in a V-League match last weekend.

Doctors said the 26-year-old needed surgery and would return to action next year.

Hai is one of key players of Dong Tam Long An who are sitting near the bottom of the ranking table.

He played eight out of 10 matches and scored one goal.

Futsal team to train in Spain

The national futsal team yesterday left for a training course in Spain in preparation for the Asian championships final in HCM City later this month.

The training will last till April 22 under the newly-appointed coach Garcia Fomosa Bruno who has selected 17 athletes.

In Spain, they will also have six friendly matches with the local teams. Bruno has planned two of these matches to be against Spain's top five.

The Asian tournament will kick off on April 30 and end on May 10. Viet Nam are in Group A with Kuwait, Iraq and Tajikistan.

The hosts are aiming to be among the top eight teams of the championship.

Gia Lai lose volleyball opener

Duc Long Gia Lai from Viet Nam yesterday lost 25-20, 20-25, 25-22, 18-25, 13-15 to Al-Zahra of Lebanon.

The defeat came in the first Group B match of the Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship in the Philippines.

It is the first time a Vietnamese club is taking part in a continental-level tournament. Duc Long Gia Lai are the national champions.

The other teams of the group are defending champions Matin Varamin of Iran who defeated No 5 seed Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler of Japan 3-1 yesterday.

Duc Long Gia Lai will next play Matin Varamin.

The championship, where 16 teams are participating, has been divided into four groups and is being held in Pasay from April 8 to 16. The champions will qualify for the Volleyball Men's Club World Championships, to be held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as Asia's representatives.

Trang advances to second round

Vietnamese player Vu Thi Trang advanced to the second round of the OUE Singapore Open badminton tournament yesterday.

Qualifier Trang needed only 27 minutes to overcome her Malaysian rival Lydia Li Ya Cheah 21-15, 21-12 in the women's singles.

Trang will next play No 4 seed Yeon Ju-bae of South Korea beat Thailand's Nichaon Jindapon 21-18, 19-21, 21-17.

In the men's draw, world No 8 Nguyen Tien Minh beat Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-19, 17-21, 21-17.

In other badminton news, the Vietnamese team defeated their Indian rivals in the playoffs in Group Z of the JATI BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships in Malaysia yesterday.

Mixed pair Pham Hong Nam and Do Thi Phuong Mai beat Bagalur Rajanna Sankeerth and Mira Mahadevan 21-8, 19-21, 21-11, Pham Cao Cuong overcame Harsheel Dani 21-13, 21-19, and Nam came from behind to defeat Chirag Arjun Shetty 22-24, 22-20, 21-10.

Today they will play Denmark who trounced Spain 3-0 yesterday.

VNS/ND/VOV