VN to send 250 athletes to 17th Asian Games

Vietnam will send a 350-member sporting delegation to the 17th Asian Games in Incheon this September, with its 250 athletes determined to meet the goal of winning at least three gold medals.

Vietnam will compete in 22 sports at this year’s games, aiming to make the podium in eight sports: athletics, swimming, gymnastics, shooting, taekwondo, karate, wushu and sepak takraw. The delegation hopes to finish between 15th and 20th places overall in the field of 45 participating countries and territories.

At the previous edition of the Games, held in Guangzhou, China four years ago, 267 Vietnamese athletes competed in 26 of the 42 events, earning a solitary gold medal thanks to karate artist Le Bich Phuong.

The 17th Games are scheduled to take place from September 19-October 6 in the Republic of Korea.

Nghe An end contract with Ndjodo Edouard

On Monday, former V-League champions Song Lam Nghe An bid adieu to Ndjodo Edouard, one of their three foreign players, after only seven rounds.

The club managers remarked that Edouard had failed to match up to their expectations, scoring just two goals. They also pointed out that he lacked the aerial skills necessary for a striker, despite towering at 1.91m.

"We knew that he was only a middle level player when he came to the trial sessions at our club. Since our budget was low, we decided to sign a contract with him. However, he has let us down, and we do not need him anymore," said Nguyen Hong Thanh, the director of the Song Lam Nghe An Football Sport Joint Stock Company.

Nghe An is currently banking on two foreign players: striker Biayaga Paul Emile and midfielder Rodrigues Moreira Guilherme.

Nam wins first match at Chang Thailand event

The No 6 seed Ly Hoang Nam defeated host player Soravich Kaewwongwattana in the first round of the Chang Thailand ITF Juniors 2014, which started yesterday, in Nonthaburi.

Nam met with no challenge to beat the unseeded Thai player 6-0, 6-1.

Today, he will meet Oscar Janglin of Sweden in the next round, who yesterday won 6-1, 6-1 over Panompol Panompol Noulpao, another Thai player.

The ITF's Grade 1 event will conclude on March 9.

VN defeat foreign teams at women's volleyball cup

VTV Binh Dien Long An beat China's Weifang Club 3-0 on the opening day of the 8th International Women's VTV Binh Dien Long An Volleyball Cup in the Central Highlands province of Dac Nong yesterday.

In an earlier match, the Viet Nam women's youth team also won 3-0 against their Myanmar counterparts.

The cup has gathered five domestic teams and three foreign teams from Myanmar and China, and will run until March 11.

Vien bags fourth gold at US competition

Nguyen Thi Anh Vien clinched her fourth gold medal at the Florida Swimming Spring Senior Championships 2014 yesterday (March 3).

The top Vietnamese swimmer, who competed for the Saint Augustine club where she has been training for months, came first in the women's 200 yard butterfly event, clocking a time of 1min 58.64 seconds.

Runner-up Justine Bowker finished at 2:0.36.

Later, the London Olympian bagged a silver medal in the women's 200 yard backstroke event with a time of 58.40, some 3 seconds slower than the gold medalist Madeline Hess.

Vien had won three gold medals and one silver medal over the weekend.

Vien, who is the Athlete of the Year 2013, will receive the 27th SEA Games Impression Award by the The Thao&Van Hoa (Sports and Culture) newspaper for her outstanding performance at the biennial competition last December in Myanmar.

As Vien is in the US, her family will represent her at the ceremony, which will be held in her home city of Can Tho tomorrow (Mar 5). She will be awarded the latest version of Vespa GTS Super 125, costing VND80 million, or US$3,800.