Thai women win regional beach volleyball championship

Thailand won the Asian Women's Beach Volleyball Championship, which wrapped up yesterday in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

The Australian team came second while New Zealand scored third.

The event, which attracted participation by 14 teams from seven nations and territories including Japan, China and Kazakhstan, took place from Friday to Sunday in the province's Tuan Chau resort attracting thousands of domestic and foreign visitors. It is a part of the ongoing Quang Ninh Tourism Week that began on April 7 and will run till May 15.

Tai wins stage, An claims leading place in cycling cup

Nguyen Truong Tai secured the eighth stage while Ho Huynh Van An stole the yellow jersey in the HCM City Television Cycling Cup yesterday.

Tai of Domesco Dong Thap Pharmacy finished the hilly 142km race from Nha Trang to Da Lat with a time of 4hr 26.01min, reaching an average speed of 32.028km/h.

Tai's teammate Le Ngoc Son came second, followed by Tran Thanh Dien from SunTek Sao Viet HCM City.

Yellow jersey wearer Dinh Quoc Viet of Sao Viet failed to maintain his top position as he was exhausted after climbing the two hills of Khanh Le and Giang Ly. He dropped to the fourth place in the overall rankings.

Cyclist An re-took the leading position with the strong support of his An Giang Plant Protection team. He spent 21:46.23 hours for the whole tour.

Huynh Van Thuan of ADC-Vinh Long Television came second. Phan Hoang Thai of Domesco Dong Thao was third.

"My yellow jersey today is a surprise because I didn't think Viet would drop it after his perfect performance in the past. My result today was mainly due to great contribution of teammates and coaches," said An.

Though losing the individual leading position, SunTek Sao Viet claimed the team ranking's top seat with a time of 63:55.07. Two runners-up were An Giang and Domesco Dong Thao.

Rider An is also leading the green jersey race with 70 points.

Today, the participants will compete in the ninth stage of 10 laps around Xuan Huong Lake in Da Lat City covering 51km.

Formoso selects national futsal team for Asian competition

Coach Bruno Garcia Formoso has finalised the national team that will compete at the Asian Futsal Championships in HCM City later this month.

As many as 13 of the 16-member squad are from the Thai Son Nam club, who are the national champions. One player each from Metasol, Tan Hiep Hung and Hai Phuong Nam clubs make up the remaining three.

On Saturday, in the last practice match before the Asian competition, Viet Nam beat Lebanon 6-2 in HCM City.

Formoso said he was satisfied with the players' performance, while Poca, Lebanon's coach, said Viet Nam were much better than one year ago when the two teams drew 0-0 in South Korea.

The latest edition of the Asian Futsal Tournament will kick off on April 30 and wrap up on May 10.

The hosts are in Group A with Kuwait, Tajikistan and Iraq.

Viet Nam's participation in the event includes the services of referee Truong Quoc Dung.