Goran to train Dong Tam Long An

Dong Tam Long An have appointed Kupunovic Goran as the team's technical director.

The Serbian is expected to provide the V-League strugglers with a much needed boost.

"We are playing poorly at the moment and we have shortage of trainers, so we decided to invite Goran. He will help us to become more competitive," said Vo Thanh Nhiem, chairman of Dong Tam Long An.

The 47-year-old director previously worked for the club in 2007 with Long An's U21 squad.

Long An are currently one place off the bottom of the table with thee points after seven games.

Their next game will be at home against Dong Nai on March 15.

Nam advances in Thailand

Ly Hoang Nam strolled into the third round of the Chang Thailand ITF Junior G1 boys singles in Nonthaburi yesterday.

His opponent, Oscar Janglin from Sweden, was forced to withdraw with the score at 6-4, 3-0 in Nam's favour. His next opponent will be Jake Delaney of Australia who beat Alberto Lim of the Philippines 6-3, 6-3. Nam and his partner Garvit Batra of India also advanced to the quarter-finals in the doubles event after beating Alexey Prokopchuk (Ukraine) and Teeradon Tortrakul (Thailand) 6-1, 6-1.

They will next face Bogdan Bobrov (Russia) and Ondrej Krstev (Czech), the No 5 seeds.

Tennis tourney for women begins

The National Women's Tennis Championship will start today at the Phu Tho Club in HCM City.

Athletes will compete in four singles categories and two in the doubles. This year's tournament is the first to include events for amateur players.

The finals are scheduled for March 14.

‘SEA Games Impression’ prize awarded to swimmer Anh Vien

A Vespa GTS Super 125 scooter, worth nearly VND80 million (US$3,760), was presented to the winner of the ‘SEA Games Gold Impression’ prize, swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien at an awards ceremony on March 5.

Anh Vien finished victorious in a poll for the prize held on the last day of 2013, beating other candidates including Hoang Xuan Vinh (shooting), Vu Thi Huong (track and field), Lam Quang Nhat (swimming), Thach Kim Tuan (weightlifting) and Luu Thi Duyen (boxing).

The prize, launched by the Vietnam News Agency’s Sports & Culture Newspaper, was in recognition of Vien’s outstanding performances at the recent 27th Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar, where she broke many of the tournament’s records and won an amazing three gold, two silver and one bronze medal.

According to the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Truong Le Kim Hoa, the prize aims to encourage Vietnamese athletes to do their utmost in order to bring glory home and contribute to national sports development.

Just recently, Vien won four gold and two silver medals at the Florida Swimming Spring Senior Championship 2014 from February 27-March 3 in Orlando. 

At the age of 17, Vien boasts a collection of 128 medals. She is currently one of the nation’s biggest medal hopes for the upcoming 17th Asian Games in Incheon, the Republic of Korea.

Ha Nam assured of top two finish

Striker Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung grabbed a goal in each half to help Phong Phu Ha Nam overcome Ha Noi 2-1 in their fifth game of the National Women's Football Championships.

With 12 points after five matches, Phong Phu Ha Nam are back on top and certain to be in the top two at the halfway point in the season, regardless the result of the match between Ha Noi 1 and HCM City.

Ha Noi 1 are currently in second with 10 points followed by HCM City in third with seven points.

After a balanced opening 10 minutes, the match quickly reflected the two teams' positions in the table with Ha Nam controlling the match and forcing bottom-placed Ha Noi to defend deeply.

After a couple of missed opportunities, Ha Nam broke the deadlock in the 14th minute. Winger Nguyen Thi Lieu burst down in the right and squared the ball back to the unmarked Dung who slotted the ball neatly passed goalkeeper Nguyen Thi Hang.

The goal spurred Ha Noi 2 into life, but they were unable to make any real inroads into the Ha Nam defence.

At the other end, Ha Nam tried to test Hang with long-range shots, but quickly returned to the wings when that didn't work. The change of tactic nearly helped them double their advantage on the stroke of half-time, only to be denied by the post.

Van Thi Thanh's players continued to dominate in the second half and it took only ten minutes for them to add a second through Dung, who slotted home Pham Thi Tuoi's pass from the right wing.

Ha Nam took their foot off the pedal after that which allowed Ha Noi 2 to pull a goal back through Nguyen Thi My Hao seven minutes from time. The goal inspired Vu Ba Dong's players to go in search of an equaliser, but their efforts ended in vain.