Hà Nội Highschool Table Tennis Open 2018 officially launched

Editor-in-chief of Thể Thao & Văn Hóa newspaper, Lê Xuân Thành, speaks at the press conference. — Photo Thể Thao & Văn Hóa

The Vietnam News Agency’s Thể Thao & Văn Hóa (Sport & Culture) publication yesterday kicked off the Hà Nội Highschool Table Tennis Open 2018 – Thể Thao & Văn Hóa Newspaper Cup.

The tournament has attracted students aged from 10-14 from cities and provinces across the nation.

Editor-in-chief Lê Xuân Thành said the tournament aimed to help the mental and physical development of young Vietnamese table tennis players. 

Trần Cảnh Tuấn, deputy head of the Viet Nam Table Tennis Federation (VTTF), said the development of high school table tennis was one of his foundation’s missions.

“We would like to promote high school table tennis and co-operate with schools on this project. First, we want children to practise sports to be healthy, then we want to find young stars and train them to become professional athletes,” said Tuấn.

Tống Đức Thuận, assistant secretary of the VTTF, said the organisers wished to create a playground for students without affecting their studies.

The tournament will be held on September 15 and 16 at the Duy Hưng Gymnasium, 120 Đốc Ngữ Street, Ba Đình District.

Sanatech Sanest Khánh Hòa beat Thái Sơn Nam at National Futsal HDBank

Sanatech Sanest Khánh Hòa (right) beat Thái Sơn Nam at the National HDBank Futsal Championship. — Photo vov.vn

Sanatech Sanest Khánh Hòa beat Thái Sơn Nam at the National HDBank Futsal Championship on Thursday in Lãnh Bình Thăng Gymnasium in HCM City.

“The appearance of spectators at the stadium showed truly the prediction of experts and fans, that this is a top match of Vietnamese futsal. In recent years, Sanatech has played so much better and our matches are getting more emotional,” said Trần Duy Hiếu, head of the Khánh Hòa team.  

For head coach Nguyễn Bảo Quân of Thái Sơn Nam, though he has thoroughly researched the style of Sanatech, the team appeared not to keep an eye on their defence. “Sanatech played tightly and used a safe strategy. Most of the long passes and the even-the-score situations originated from that style. We have studied it but we did not deal with it really well.”

In their latest three encounters at the National Championship tournament, Sanatech had one win and two draws with Thái Sơn Nam and this game fit that precedent. 

After the first half with no goal, the advantage went to Thái Sơn Nam as Tôn Thất Phi scored for the Hồ Chí Minh City team 1-0.

However, Thái Sơn Nam lost strength in their defense and from a long pass of Văn Hạnh, Quốc Bảo made a header to Thanh Hoàng, who wasted no time to even the score 1-1 to Sanatech.

Continuing to strengthen their attack, Khánh Hòa affirmed their power as Phước Hạnh stirred up the defense of Thái Sơn Nam, before passing to Đinh Hùng and overcoming goalkeeper Hồ Văn Ý to raise the score to 2-1.

“This victory opens a door to success for us. We still have six more matches to go, but it is the motivation to our players on the path to the top,” added Hiếu.

With this triumph, Sanatech have risen to the second rank, with 26 points like Thái Sơn Nam but more wins.

Thái Sơn Nam fell to third in the race to this year’s championship.  

They will face Cao Bằng on September 15 and Khánh Hòa will meet Thái Sơn Bắc on September 16. 

Jos Koop wins stage 11 of Tôn Hoa Sen Cup

Jos Koop celebrates his victory at the VTV International Cycling Tournament – Tôn Hoa Sen Cup. — Photo vtv1.mediacdn.vn

A spectacular sprint saw Jos Koop of Global Cycling Team win the 11th stage of the VTV International Cycling Tournament – Tôn Hoa Sen Cup on Thursday.

Koop finished the 179-kilometre stage from Pleiku (Gia Lai Province) to Buôn Ma Thuột City (Đắk Lắk Province) in a time of 4:12.04.

Nguyễn Phạm Quốc Khang of Bike Life Đồng Nai finished second and Im Jaeyeon of Korail Cycle Team placed third.

David Van Eerd of the Netherlands’ Global Cycling Team retained the yellow leader’s jersey despite finishing 18th on the day, but lost the green sprinter’s jersey to Jaeyon.

Meanwhile, Sarda Javier Perez of Lộc Trời Group kept the red mountain classification jersey.

Stage 12 takes place today, with racers set to complete a 51 kilometre circuit around Buôn Ma Thuột’s March 10 Square. 

Đỗ Merlo says goodbye to SHB Đà Nẵng

Striker Đỗ Merlo has bid farewell to the V.League 1’s SHB Đà Nẵng due to a recurring heart problem.

In their 2-1 win against Cần Thơ on Sunday, Argentinean Merlo, who was granted Vietnamese citizenship last year, played only 10 minutes due to his illness.

“We will struggle a bit because Merlo has decided to call it a day just before the end of the season. Over the past two years he’s struggled with injuries," said chairman of Đà Nẵng, Bùi Xuân Hòa.

“Without Merlo, we will try to compete and our players will have to adapt to a new way of playing,” Hòa added.

Merlo, 33, has played for Đà Nẵng for 10 years. He helped Đà Nẵng triumph in V.League 1 in 2009 and 2012, the National Cup in 2009 and the National Super Cup in 2012.

He is one of the top goalscorers in the national premier league. He won the league’s top scorer award four times from 2009-11 and in 2016. He also won the league’s best foreign player award in 2009 and 2011.

At present, Đà Nẵng are 10th place in the rankings with 26 points. They will next take on Sông Lam Nghệ An at Vinh Stadium in the central province of Nghệ An today.

Vĩnh Phúc triumph at national wrestling champs

Wrestlers perform at the National Wrestling Championship in Nghệ An Province. — Photo baonghean.vn

Vĩnh Phúc triumphed at the National Wrestling Championship which concluded in the central province of Nghệ An yesterday.

The team brought home six golds, three silvers and three bronzes. Bắc Giang came second with three golds, one silver and three bronzes while hosts Nghệ An finished third with one gold, three silvers and three bronzes.

The four-day event featured nearly 100 players from eight teams across the country, competing in 12 weight categories from under 48kg to over 85kg.

It was organised by the National Sports Administration and the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 

Thái Sơn Nam beats Tân Hiệp Hưng at National Futsal HDBank Championship

Thái Sơn Nam defeats Tân Hiệp Hưng 1-0 at the National HDBank Futsal Championship. 

Veteran team Thái Sơn Nam defeated Tân Hiệp Hưng at the National HDBank Futsal Championship yesterday in Hồ Chí Minh City.

Playing in Lãnh Binh Thăng Gymnasium, Thái Sơn Nam controlled most of the match. But it was not until the end of the first half that a goal from Đức Hòa put them ahead of Sài Gòn team Tân Hiệp Hưng.

Tân Hiệp Hưng failed to answer Đức Hòa’s goal, eventually falling 1-0.  

Tân Hiệp Hưng captain Tấn Đông said, “I regret one moment when Quang Huy had the ball. If I had been more careful with my pass to Tôn Thất Dinh, we would have evened the score.”

He also added his team had an unlucky day. “We prepared well, from practicing to tactical planning, but we lacked some luck today.”

Meanwhile, head coach Nguyễn Bảo Quân of Thái Sơn Nam said he was pleased with his team in the first half, when they controlled most of the play “In second half, after committing many fouls, our ability to play a pressing style was lessened because players were afraid to commit more infractions,” he said. “Despite that, we tried our best and won three key points.”

He added the national futsal foundation has developed well, with the teams in Hồ Chí Minh City showing the most improvement. “We are defending our championship and rivals always want to bring us down.  

Their level is rising, so there are no more easy wins.”

However, Đông had a different view. “Thái Sơn Nam is not looking as strong this season. Today they were missing some strong players, such as Trọng Luân.”

In another match, Sài Gòn FC beat Thái Sơn Bắc 3-2.

In first half, goals for the Sài Gòn team were scored by Hoàng Nam, Nhất Hội and Hữu Thắng. The second half saw Thái Sơn Bắc mount a strong comeback, scoring twice but eventually falling short.

Thái Sơn Nam will meet Sanatech Sanest Khánh Hòa and Sài Gòn FC will face Sanna Khánh Hòa on September 13. 

Sơn wins Tràng An international marathon

Runners compete in the first Tràng An Marathon held at the Tràng An Landscape Complex in the northern province of Ninh Bình on September 9. — Photo webthethao.vn

Vũ Văn Sơn won the men’s 42km category of the first Tràng An Marathon at the Tràng An Landscape Complex in the northern province of Ninh Bình on September 9.

Sơn of Ninh Bình finished first with a time of 2:38.57, followed by Nguyễn Quốc Dũng of Khánh Hòa and Nguyễn Tiến Hùng of Phú Thọ.

On the women’s side, Nguyễn Thụy Ý Tiên of Khánh Hòa took the title with a time of 3:21.07. Nguyễn Thị Đường of Long Distance Runners and Lê Phương Vy of Hà Nội came second and third,  respectively.

In the men’s 21km event, the title also went to an athlete of the hosts Ninh Bình, Nguyễn Văn Nhiên, after clocking a time of 1:20:38. While Hanoian Nguyễn Lê Như Quỳnh took the lead in the women’s event  with a time of 1:36:01.

The event attracted the participation of more than 800 runners from Việt Nam and 16 other countries and territories.

The race, jointly held by the Việt Nam Athletics Federation and the provincial Department of Culture and Sports, marked the 1,050th anniversary of the establishment of Đại Cồ Việt, the first feudal state of Việt  Nam. Through the event, Ninh Bình aims to promote the image of people and landscape of the UNESCO-recognised Tràng An Landscape Complex to domestic and foreign friends, contributing to local  economic and tourism development.