Vietnam beat Thailand in AFF

Vietnam win 3-2 over Thailand in the first round match of the ASEAN Under-19 Football Championship in Indonesia on September 10.

The victory placed Vietnam in second place for Group B, behind hosts Indonesia who defeated Brunei 4-0 in a later match.

Vietnam will next meet Malaysia on September 12.

The championship lures all 11 members of the ASEAN region. The teams will be divided into two groups. Two group winners will advance to the semi-finals.

The final match is scheduled on September 22.

Vietnamese players are expected to face tough competition from their regional counterparts at the 27th "Golden Racket" HCM City international table tennis tournament, which kicks off today at Phan Dinh Phung Indoor Stadium.

Mai Hoang My Trang's gold medal ambitions will require her to overcome Nanthana Komwong, world No 99 and Singaporean Lin Ze, world No 92, in the women's singles category.

On the men's side, local hopefuls Tran Tuan Quynh and Dinh Quang Linh will have world No 88 Yang Zi from Singapore, in their way.

The annual tournament attracts nearly 100 local and foreign players from eight countries and territories: Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and hosts Viet Nam.

They will vie for medals in four events: men's and women's team, plus men's and women's singles.

While Indian players are appearing at the tournament for the first time, South Korea and Malaysia promise to be strong teams this year.

Viet Nam have four representative teams: Viet Nam A, Viet Nam B, HCM City, and Petrosetco.

Huyen triumphs at archery champs

Vinh Long's Le Ngoc Huyen won six gold medals and two national records at the National Archery Stars Championships which finished on Monday in Soc Trang Province.

In the women's 50m compound category, Huyen set up a record with 341 points, four points better than the previous record. She scored 348 points in the 70m compound, beating the previous record by three points.

Loc Thi Dao provided Ha Noi with two records in the women's 50m and 70 recurve category. Another went to Nguyen Tuan Anh in the men's 50m compound pool.

Ha Noi topped the tournament with 12 gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals.

The second position went to Vinh Long with six golds, two silvers and two records, while Hai Phong were the third with five golds, one silver and two bronzes.

The best archers will be selected for the national team competing in international competition.

Kha sets new record at champs

Thai Binh Province's Bui Dinh Kha yesterday set a national record at the ongoing National Fin-swimming Championships in Ha Noi.

Kha finished first in the men's surface (snorkeling) 1,500m event with a time of 13min 02.82sec, which became a new record for Viet Nam. His old record of 13:03.03 was set at the national tournament last year.

Do Xuan Thien of Ha Nam came second, followed by Le Quy Don from the Military team.

Another record set yesterday came from Tran Bao Thu of Tay Ninh who triumphed in the men's surface (snorkel) 200m category.

Thu's 1:24.08 result knocked-out the two-year-old record of 1:25.16 by Hanoian Nguyen Trung Kien.

Pham Van Tien of Ha Noi and Nguyen Van Thang of Quang Ninh were in second and third places, respectively.

After three days of competition, Da Nang who won two titles yesterday, jumped to the top position overall medal position with six gold, one silver and one bronze.

HCM City followed in second with five gold, eight silver and one bronze. Thanh Hoa were in third place, earning four gold, one silver and two bronze.

The championships will conclude today.

Vietnam women begin regional football title defence

The Vietnam women’s national football team started their campaign at the 2013 AFF Women’s Championship on Monday determined to defend the overall crown they won on home filed at last year’s event.

The annual tournament, which is taking place in Yangon, Myanmar from September 9-22, features seven Southeast Asian teams and three other invitees competing in a group-stage round robin format with top two finishers from each group surging into the semifinal round.

Group A includes Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Jordan and U-19 Australia, while Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Indonesia and U-23 Japan make up Group B.

Vietnam and Thailand played out a goalless draw in their group opener on September 9 while Jordan swept over Malaysia with a narrow advantage of 1-0.

Vietnam is playing Malaysia in three days’ time before taking on Jordan and U-19 Australia on September 15 and 17 respectively.