VietNamNet Bridge – Teenagers Hoang Quy Phuoc and Tran Thi Kim Tuyen grabbed three gold medals each in the National Short-Course Swimming Championship in Hue City on Sunday.

Phuoc,17, from Da Nang clocked 1min 50.93sec to win gold in the men's 200m freestyle before cruising to two more golds in 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle relay at the 25m swimming pool.

Meanwhile, Tuyen, 16, of HCM City also triumphed in the women's 100 backstroke with a time of 1:02.87.

She then finished first in the 200 butterfly in 2:17.15.

The HCM City-born and her teammates then took gold in 200m freestyle relay on Sunday night.

The two national team members are expected to win more golds as the championship closes on Thursday.

* Golden Ball winners to be announced this month

The winners of the prestigious Golden Ball awards 2010 will be announced in HCM City later this month, the organising committee said yesterday, March 21.

The last votes were collected by the organising committee, Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper, yesterday.

Earlier this month, sports journalists, coaches and experts cast their votes for their favourite men's and women's footballers of the year from a list of 29 candidates including young and foreign footballers.

The winners will receive a cash-prize of VND20 million (US$1,000) each.

Last year, Hanoian maestro Pham Thanh Luong and Doan Thi Kim Chi took home the coveted award.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News