Việt Nam U16s ready to defend AFF title

Việt Nam’s U16 team. — Photo baonghean.vn

Việt Nam’s U16s are ready to compete at the AFF U-16 Championship to be held in Indonesia on July 29.

Coach Vũ Hồng Việt has selected 23 players, 14 of whom play for PVF and Hà Nội, to defend their title at this year’s event.

Việt Nam are in Group A alongside Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor Leste and the Philippines.

Việt Nam will meet Cambodia on July 29, Timor Leste on July 31, Indonesia on August 2, the Philippines on August 4 and Myanmar on August 6.

The AFF tournament will be a warm-up for Việt Nam to prepare for the AFC U-16 Championship to be held in Malaysia in September.

At the AFC event, Việt Nam are in Group C with Iran, India and Indonesia. The tournament’s best four teams will earn tickets to take part in the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2019 in Peru. 

Phương reaches final of ITF tennis event

Nguyễn Văn Phương. — Photo thethaovanhoa.vn

Nguyễn Văn Phương reached the final of the ITF International U18 Tennis Tournament at Phú Thọ Tennis Club in HCM City yesterday.

Việt Nam’s No 1 youngster defeated Kasidit Samrei of Thailand 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 in their semi-final.

Phương is world junior No 202, while Samrei is No 166.

Phương will meet Ryoma Matsishita of Japan, world junior No 184, who beat Stefan Storch of Australia in the other semi-final, in the final today.

In the men’s doubles, Phương and his teammate Minh Thịnh lost to the No 1 seeds Christian Didier Chin of Malaysia and Rishab Shrada of India in straight seta.

In the women’s doubles, Chinese Taipei’s Hsuan Huang and Ke Syuan Jhang won the title after beating China’s Yujiao Che and Jingyi Wang 2-0.

VN athletes shine at HCM City int’l athletics event

Long jumper Bùi Thị Thu Thảo. -- Photo baomoi.com

Vietnamese athletes shone at the HCM City International Track & Field – Việt Nam Open on Thursday.

The event was held at Thống Nhất Stadium in HCM City.

Long jump star Bùi Thị Thu Thảo proved her skill after beating 12 rivals to jump 6.55m and take home the gold medal. Her result bested the 6.20m she achieved at recent Asian Indoor Games.

In the women’s 800m category, Vũ Thị Ly eased to a gold medal with a time of 2:10.81. While Dương Văn Thái triumphed on the men’s side with a time of 1:50.62.

In the women’s 400m, Asian Games silver medallist Quách Thị Lan got a gold after clocking a time of 52.85secs.

Other members of the team also proved their talent. Nguyễn Thị Oanh won a gold medal in the women’s 5,000m with a time of 16:20.26.

On the men’s side, Nguyễn Văn Lai seized a gold medal with a time of 14:44.71.

All the above athletes are key players for Việt Nam in the upcoming Asian Games (ASIAD 2018) in Indonesia this August.

The two-day event saw the participation of 400 athletes from 40 provinces and cities nationwide and 120 foreign athletes from 11 countries nations and territories, competing in 21 categories.

The event was jointly organised by the municipal Department of Culture and Sports and the Athletics Federation of HCM City. 

VN handball teams enter second round of world champs

The Vietnamese men’s team (in yellow) during the ongoing World Beach Handball Championship in Kazan, Russia. – Photo zing.vn

The Việt Nam national handball teams entered the second round of the ongoing World Beach Handball Championship in Kazan, Russia.

Both Vietnamese men’s and women’s teams have had one win and two losses to rank third in their groups. The results helped them qualify for the second round.

The male team lost to both Spain and Hungary 0-2 but beat New Zealand 2-1 (18-14, 16-17 and 6-5).

While the female team came from behind to beat arch rival Mexico 2-1 (12-16, 22-20, 5-4), they were defeated by Norway and Denmark.

This is the first time Việt Nam’s teams have played at the world event after they overcame the qualifying round of the Asian Beach Handball Championship last year.

The world championship will last until July 29. 

HCM City Wings by Jetstar celebrate first win

Quinton Doggett (4) notched up 38 points for HCM City Wings. — Photo courtesy of organisers

For the first time, HCM City Wings by Jetstar celebrated their first triumph over Danang Dragons in the Việt Nam Basketball Association (VBA) League, after a thrilling match on Thursday at Hồ Xuân Hương Gymnasium.

The visiting Dragons looked strong going into the match. Zach Allmon helped the team to a 22-16 lead after the first quarter.

However, the Wings kept their nerve with Quinton Doggett scoring 11 points, shortening the gap to 38-39.

In the third quarter, the teams competed vigorously and Chris Dierker – Allmon contributed 17 points while Doggett notched up another 11.

However, HCM City Wings managed 6 successful three-point shots. Three from Henry Nguyễn, two from Nguyễn Huỳnh Hải and once from Corey Cilia, to lead the match 69-62.

The Dragons tried hard to even the score, but lost to the Wings 101-107. The teams achieved new records in the VBA, including the highest scoring match (208 points in total) and the highest scoring teams (both teams scored over 100 points).

Allmon gave the Dragons 48 points, 22 rebounds, Dierker contributed 21 points, 8 rebounds and Horace Nguyễn (13 points).

Doggett poured in 38 points, 19 rebounds, Henry (28 points), Cilia (19 points, 6 rebounds) and Hải gave 10 points to the Wings.

Coming up next, HCM City Wings will face Thang Long Warriors on July 29 at Hà Nội National University of Education Gymnasium, while Danang Dragons will meet Saigon Heat at CIS Gymnasium.