Vietnamese badminton player seeded 8th at England tournament

The Vietnamese top player Nguyen Tien Minh was seeded No 8 at the All England Open Badminton Championships 2014 from March 3-9 in Birmingham City of England.

This tournament, one of the Super Series Premier events, offers US$400.000 as total prize money.

The All England will gather many excellent players, such as Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia (world No 1), Chen Long of China (No 2) and Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia (No 3).

The draw will be held by the Badminton World Federation in February 18.

Tennis player Hoang Thien to be trained in Taiwan

Taiwan’s Integration Sports CEO Jeff Hsu has signed a February 13 contract offering free tennis training to emerging Vietnamese tennis star Nguyen Hoang Thien.

Hsu pledged Hoang Thien will be given all the necessary support to fine-tune his skills and further his professional career.

Apart from coaching, Hoang Thien will also be sponsored to compete at 25–30 tournaments.

Hoang Thien has been a standout performer at national tournaments after almost one year of training at Integration Sports. He secured second place at the 2013 National Tennis Championships and impressed during the 2014 Asia-Pacific Davis Cup: Group II tie.

Integration Sports is one of Taiwan’s most prestigious tennis academies. Its alumni include Lu Yen-Hsun (World no. 33), Jeong Suk-Young (World no. 270), and Sabina Sharipova (World no. 12).

Windsurf competition wraps up in Binh Thuan

The 15th Fun Cup 2014 - Windsurf Amateur Slalom Race wrapped up in Phan Thiet city, the central province of Binh Thuan on February 15 after two days of heated competition.

This year’s tournament brought together 36 windsurfers from 10 countries and territories worldwide, including six women. The competitors raced for 2,400- 3,200m following a Z-shaped track.

In the men’s event, Albert Pyoan Thonne from Catalan beat others to win the trophy while Australian athlete Lucy Adillo Maher came first in the women’s event.

Co-hosted by the Binh Thuan Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Jibe’s Beach Club, the event was a warm-up activity for the 2016 Asia Beach Games by 2016.

Phan Thiet is said to be the most beautiful place for windsurfing in Vietnam. The city has hosted a number of tournaments, including the annual Fun Cup International Windsurf Race and the Professional Windsurfers Association's World Cup event.

Football: Vietnam third in Southeast Asia

The latest FIFA rankings, released on February 13, place Vietnam’s national football squad third in Southeast Asia and 143rd in the world.

Although the team played no February matches, it retained its international position and regionally only follows the Philippines (127th) and Myanmar (130th).

Below Vietnam lie Southeast Asian rivals Thailand (147th), Singapore (150th), Malaysia (150th), Laos (156th), Indonesia (158th), Cambodia (189th), Brunei (190th), and Timor Leste (190th).

Vietnam is ranked 23rd in Asia. Iran leads Asia with 729 points but fell four places in world rankings to 38th, Japan also slipped back two places to 50th in the world (601 points).

Spain remains the best team in the world, followed by Germany and with Argentina in third. Portugal overtook Colombia to rank fourth. Switzerland ascended to sixth, leapfrogging Uruguay and Italy.

Viet Nam cueists to play at World Champs in Germany

Vietnamese cueists will compete against foreign rivals at the coming World Championship National Teams 3-Cushion in Germany next month.

Twenty-four teams, each with two athletes, have sent their list. Defending champion Belgium are allowed to have two squads.

Vietnamese cueists Ngo Dinh Nai and Duong Anh Vu will compete in Group F together with the Netherlands and Greece.

The tournament is scheduled to be held from March 13 to 16.

The Vietnamese players currently are in Turkey at the World Cup 3-cushion, which is an important warm-up ahead of the world championship.—

Walker Phuc ruled out of Asian competition

Asian silver medallist Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc will miss the Asian Race Walking Championships in Ishikawa, Japan early next month.

Phuc has been suffering from sickness and problems with her knees, and her coaches say she will not recover in time to compete in Japan.

Phuc, who won a bronze on her debut in 2012, may make a comeback at the 17th Asian Games in South Korea in September.

Another athlete who is also absent from competition at the moment is SEA Games marathon champion Pham Thi Binh.

She suffered ligament damage after winning in Myanmar last December, and will not take part in the annual Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in September.

Source: VNS/VNA/VOV