Japan face Australia in cup final

Both Japanese and Australian coaches Alen Stajcic and Sasaki Norio have said they want to win tomorrow when the two teams square off in a mouth-watering showdown for the Women's Asian Cup.

Defending champions Australia scored a convincing 2-1 win over South Korea in a semi-final on Thursday night as Katrina Gorry and Elise Kellond-Knight scored in the second half on each side of Park Eun-sun's penalty goal for South Korea.

Stajcic is optimistic his team, which won the title in China four years ago, will win.

"We have a good chance of winning the final and I think the final will be a good game," he told Viet Nam News after a training session at Phu Tho Stadium.

"We did it once and we can do it again. We improve our game a little bit on Sunday and we can compete against Japan."

He pointed out that Australia have an advantage since they needed only 90 minutes to win their semi-final while Japan had to play for 120 minutes.

"Yes, we have a big advantage, everyone, even in our team, is tired, but Japan is one of the best teams in the world and we know we have to play very well and use some of our advantages against them.

"We played very well last night.

"We dominated most of the game and created a lot of chances to score goals."

The best of his young team has yet to come, he claimed, saying they are still improving and would perform even better at the World Cup next year.

"We can challenge the big countries like Japan, Germany, and America and I think there is a lot of potential in this team."

He said he was pleased with the accommodation and food and organisation, but found the traffic in Viet Nam quite different even from other Asian countries. But he and his team have already got used to it, he said.

Japan, who won the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, had to work hard to overcome a fighting China 2-1 in the other semi-final match, with Iwashimizu Azusa scoring the winning goal from a corner in the dying moments of extra time.

Japan have never won the Asian Cup despite reaching the finals four times, losing thrice to China and once to North Korea.

But Norio is keen to end the losing streak on Sunday with a win over Australia.

"Playing in the AFC Women's Asian Cup is similar to playing in the World Cup, but we probably have a jinx at the continental event," he told the post-match press conference.

"I was in the stands watching Japan's men's futsal team beat Iran in the final of the AFC Men's Futsal Championship to lift the trophy early this month. I hope our players will repeat that victory on Sunday."

China play South Korea in the third-place play-off earlier tomorrow.

Vietnam win berth in VTV Cup final

Vietnam beat Kazakhstan 25-17, 25-20, 25-14 to enter the final of the VTV Cup international volleyball tournament in Bac Ninh Province on May 23.

It was the host's second victory over Kazakhstan at the event.

Vietnam will play Thailand for the title on May 24.

Thailand, the SEA Games champions, defeated the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) 20-25, 22-25, 17-25 in the second semi-final.

The third-place playoff will see the DPRK face Kazakhstan.

All matches will be live aired on VTV6.

Samson scores a brace to hand T&T victory

Hoang Vu Samson scored a double in the V-League's defending champions Ha Noi T&T 2–0 victory over Dong Nai yesterday at the Hang Day Stadium.

The hosts dominated in an early match of the 16th round without any resistance from the visiting team, whose best striker Nguyen Hai Anh had an unlucky day.

Anh created chances for himself and received support from teammates but failed to score a single goal.

Other players such as Dinh Trung Kien and Huu Phat also had on-target shoot, but they could not beat former national goalkeeper Duong Hong Son.

Meanwhile, T&T's newcomer Cyrus Daneil Nicholas showed an outstanding performance in his debut. The towering Nicholas well-controlled Dong Nai's playmaker Melquiades Gomez who started all of his team's attacks while being a bridge connecting all lines of T&T.

The hosts nearly opened the score at the middle of the first half as national midfielder Nguyen Van Quyet made a free kick that hit the left pole of keeper Danh Hoang Tuan.

Tuan who later twice saved his net in the next minutes however failed to stop the opening goal at the 41st minute.

Samson made a solo performance, passing almost all Dong Nai's players. He stopped only when Nguyen Rodgers faulted him in the box, causing a penalty for the hosts. And Samson made 1–0 easily with a straight shoot.

The naturalised player had the second goal at the 60th minute.

Quyet made a perfect pass from the corner and Samson who was at 5m from the goal line jumped high and shot with his head strongly. He continues as the leading scorer of the V-League with 15 goals.

The win helped T&T narrow the gap between the two leading teams, Becamex Binh Duong and Thanh Hoa. They have three spare matches in hand to make an overthrow.

Today, two other matches will be organised with two former champions Song Lam Nghe An playing SHB Da Nang and Dong Tam Long An playing Quang Ninh Coal.

The last two matches will be held tomorrow. Bottom-positioned Hung Vuong An Giang will face Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Hai Phong will face Quang Nam.

Rankings unchanged in An Giang Cup

Rankings remained unchanged yesterday after the fifth stage of the Return to the Countryside cycling tournament, also known as the An Giang Plant Protection Cup.

Ha Thanh Tam from Gao Hat Ngoc Troi An Giang won the 48.5km stage consisting of 18 laps around Soc Trang City, with a time of 1:23.13. Tran Nguyen Duy Nhan of the Military Zone 7 and Nguyen Hoang Sang of Dam Ca Mau were the runners-up.

Tam holds the yellow jersey for the best overall time of 12:31.54 after five stages.

Military Zone 7 retained the lead in the team race with a time of 37:38.445, followed by An Giang and HCM City.

Today, cyclists will compete in the sixth stage from Soc Trang to Vi Thanh City.

VN chess players win bronze medals

Vietnamese women's and men's teams won bronze medals at the rapid event in the ongoing 2014 Asian Nations Cup (Open and Women's Chess Team Championships) in Tabriz, Iran on Thursday.

The men's team lost to Kazakhstan's team with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the semi-finals.

The women's team were defeated by China 1-3 in the semi-finals.

The tournament is ongoing with standard categories and will end on May 30.

Little masters look to checkmate

The Kim Dong Cup rapid chess tournament will kick off today in Ha Noi with a record 310 players.

Two levels of matches will be conducted for advanced and amateur athletes, who will compete in different age groups ranging from U6 to U15.

The little masters will checkmate in nine matches following the Swiss system.

The annual tournament, sponsored by the Kim Dong Publishing House and organised by Vietchess school, is in its seventh year with increasing number of participants.

It is considered a bridge connecting and developing chess movements in Viet Nam in general and Ha Noi in particular, according to Luong Trong Minh, head of the tournament's organising board.

Yamaha to train young footballers

The For the Future of Viet Nam Football programme, sponsored and organised by Yamaha Motor Vietnam, will conduct camps to select young players.

The first trial will be held at the Ha Noi's Bach Khoa Stadium on May 31 and June 1.

The second trial will be held at the football hub of Nghe An's Vinh Stadium on June 7.

The selected kids will be trained by Japanese trainer Masakuni Yamamoto, the former manager of the Japan U23, along with his colleagues and well-known Vietnamese coaches such as Nguyen Hong Son, Dang Phuong Nam and Do Thi Ngoc Cham.

The qualifying players of U6, U8 and U10 categories will undergo a five-week training programme, which will teach them basic football knowledge and techniques, team spirit and life skills, self-confidence as well as sportsmanship.

It is the third camps in Viet Nam by Yamaha since 2007.

It is one of the comapny's commitments to develop stable and comprehensive football opportunities at the grassroots level in the country.

Vietnamese players win bronze medals in chess championship

Viet Nam's women's and men's teams won bronze medals at the rapid event in the ongoing 2014 Asian Nations Cup (Open and Women's Chess Team Championships) in Tabriz, Iran yesterday.

The men's team of veterans Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Nguyen Duc Hoa and the talented and young Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy lost to Kazakhstan's team with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the semi-finals. They got the bronze medal.

The win helped Kazakhstan to play better in the final. They beat No 1 seed China to win the title.

The women's team, comprising Nguyen Thi Thanh An, Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Hoang Thi Nhu Y and Nguyen Mai Hung, lost to China 3-1 in the semi-finals and got the bronze medal.

Today, Viet Nam will compete in the standard chess event. The tournament will end on May 30.

VNN/VNS/VNA