Vietnam wins Standard Chartered Cup in UK

A Vietnamese football team claimed a 1-0 convincing victory over Singapore in the final match of the Standard Chartered Trophy tournament at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium on May 13.

The Hoa Binh Construction & Real Estate Corporation (HBC) outperformed Europe 3-2, Bangladesh 4-1, Pakistan 4-0 and Indonesia 2-1, drew with Malaysia 1-1, and lost 0-1 to Hong Kong in group matches, coming in second.

They overwhelmed defending champions Thailand 2-0 in the semi-final match.

The tournament attracted 14 football teams from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

During their stay, the Vietnamese team partook in a warm-up exercise with ex-Liverpool players watched Liverpool play Newcastle on the final match of the 2013-2014 English Premier League.

The football tournament is an annual event organised by the Standard Chartered Bank for countries where the bank operates.

Vietnam tops SEAsia in FIFA May rankings

The Vietnamese national men’s football team remains the best in Southeast Asia, according to the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA)’s rankings for May.

With 242 points, the team stands 116th place in the world and 16th in Asia.

It is followed by those from the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia in the region.

The top three positions in the world belong to Spain, Germany and Argentina.

Diem wins double golds

Tran Thi Trang Diem, 16, got two gold medals and set a record to help Quang Binh lead the medal tally on the first day of the National Junior Finswimming Championship in Da Nang yesterday.

Diem broke her own record in the girl's 1,500m with a time of 14 minutes 17.38 seconds, shaving 21/100 of a second from her record last year.

She then bagged another gold in the 200m, while her teammate Nguyen Cao Dai won the boy's 400m.

Nguyen Van Sang from Quang Tri also set a record in the boy's 100m with a time of 1min 44.81sec, 1.06sec faster than the old record (1min 45.75sec) set by Ha Noi's Luu Van Quang at the championship last year.

Quang Binh topped the medal tally with three gold, one silver and two bronze medals, while Ha Nam and Da Nang trailed closely behind.

The championship will run until tomorrow.

Tennis champs to begin in Highlands

The National Men's Tennis Championship will start on Saturday in the Central Highlands' Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak Province.

Organisers will finalise the competitor list today while the draw will be organised tomorrow.

Athletes will compete in the U14, U16, U18 and over-18 singles categories and doubles of U18 and over-18 classes.

The finals are scheduled to take place on May 23.

Son leads nat'l chess champs

Kien Giang Province representative Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son is alone atop the National Rapid Chess Championship rankings, with six points from seven matches.

Son, the former U10 world champion, is the only undefeated master in the men's category. He won five and drew two matches.

World elite master Le Quang Liem and his teammate Dao Thien Hai of HCM City are second with 0.5 points less than Son.

Hanoian Nguyen Van Huy came third with 5.5 points.

Son will play Hai next, while Liem entertains another teammate Tu Hoang Thong, who is currently in seventh place.

On the women's side, Pham Thi Thu Hoai of Can Tho is the leading master with 6.5 points.

Hoai dropped 0.5 points in a draw against teammate Pham Le Thao Nguyen yesterday.

Ha Noi's Hoang Thi Bao Tram ranked second. She also has 6.5 points but her parameter is lower than Hoai.

Nguyen is in third place with six points.

In the next round, Hoai will play Tram and Nguyen will face No 4 Nguyen Quynh Anh of HCM City.

Ha Noi T&T in AFC Cup quarters

Ha Noi T&T crushed Myanmar's Nay Pyi Taw 5-0 to storm into the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup at Ha Noi's Hang Day Stadium yesterday.

Trinidad&Tobago's Hector Hughton Kerin opened the score in the 35th minute and Nigerian-born Hoang Vu Samson netted the ball in the 35th to help the Hanoian team end the first half with a 2-0 lead.

In the second half, Thach Bao Khanh, Samson and Pham Thanh Luong found the net to compete an emphatic victory for the hosts.

On Tuesday, Vissai Ninh Binh also reached the quarter-final of the AFC Cup with a 4-2 win over India's Churchill Brothers.