Vietnamese tennis sensation wins upset at Madrid Open

Vietnamese-Austrian player Dominic Thiem continued to demonstrate his athleticism and versatility with an impressive 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over No.3 Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round of the Madrid Open on May 6.

Thiem, the youngest player in the top 100 (No. 70), recovered from a quick opening-set loss and stood toe-to-toe with the Australian Open and Monte Carlo Masters champion. He served bigger — his first serve averaged 119 mph to Wawrinka’s 116 mph — and matched the Swiss for winners off the ground.

Thiem recorded his first top-20 victory and became the first 20-and-under player to defeat a top-five player in three years.

“It’s my biggest win by far,” he said. “I couldn’t really handle his pace in the beginning, but I got used to it and played unbelievable in the second and third set.”

With the victory over the world’s No.3, Thiem took a berth to the 3rd round where he will face off with the winner of the match between Mikhail Youznhy and Feliciano Lopez.

Viet Nam to compete in Asian wrestling event

Vietnamese wrestlers will compete in the Asian Cadet Wrestling Championships which begin on Thursday in Chonburi, Thailand.

They will play in the women's and men's freestyle and men's Greco-Roman wrestling events.

The event, which will end this Sunday, will have athletes from 20 nations and territories.

The winners of the tournament will get a chance to participate in the Summer Youth Olympic Games, which will be held from August 6 to 28 in Nanjing, China.

Liem ups on FIDE rankings

International Grandmaster Le Quang Liem has jumped a spot to 36th on the International Chess Federation's world rankings in May.

The two-time Aeroflot Open champion helped his team Webster University win the President's Cup chess tournament in New York last month. The result saw the HCM City-born Liem add two points to his present Elo rating of 2,712.

In the women's competition, Vietnamese-Hungarian Hoang Thanh Trang was 14th with an Elo rating of 2509.

As planned, reigning world blitz champion Liem will return to Vietnam to join the national team for the Asian Chess Team Championships this month.

Hosts Vietnam favourites to win women’s Asian Cup

The Vietnamese team is ranked the number one seed at the finals of the Women’s Asian Cup 2014 as it is the host of the tournament, according to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).

VFF said the team representing Australia is the number two seed, followed by Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Myanmar and Jordan.

The final round will take place in Ho Chi Minh City and the neighbouring province of Binh Duong from May 14-25.

Jordan, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar were group winners in the qualifying round

The eight teams, divided into two groups, will play in a round-robin format. Group A consists of Vietnam, Australia, Japan and Jordan while RoK, China, Thailand and Myanmar will vie with one another in Group B.

The two teams with the highest scores in each group will enter the semi-finals and earn a place at the 2015 Women’s World Cup final round.

Meanwhile, the third placed teams will take a play-off match for the last spot at the World Cup.

Liem to take part in world and local tourneys

Grandmaster Le Quang Liem will represent Viet Nam at the FIDE World Blitz and Rapid Chess Championships from June 15 to 21 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Both events will be Swiss pairings tournaments and will be held over two days for blitz and three days for rapid.

The blitz will have 21 rounds, while the rapid will be 15 rounds, with a single game for each round.

Liem is the defending champion of the blitz competition.

The World No 36 will return to Viet Nam to take part in the national tournament from May 11 to 17 in HCM City.

Golfers to tee off at Phu My Hung tournament

The Phu My Hung Golf Tournament will make its debut on May 10 with the participation of 72 athletes gathering in HCM City.

Golfers will compete in the 18-hole event for a prize pool of up to VND1.5 billion (US$71,500) at the Nam Sai Gon Golf Course, 15 minutes drive from the city centre.

In addition to the Best Gross prize and top three winners, organisers will also hand out awards for technique and hole-in-one swings.

Organisers said the competition had attracted interest from a large contingent of golfers, some of whom had to be rejected due to limited space.

It is expected that the tournament will be expanded in the near future to accommodate demand.

A final race along a road named after the legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap wrapped up the national “Return to Dien Bien” cycling tournament in the northwestern city on May 6.

More than 170 cyclists from Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Timor Leste participated in the six-day event, which forms part of the activities to mark the 60 th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory over the French.

They rode from Hanoi to the northwestern cities of Hoa Binh and Son La before arriving in Dien Bien.

The first prize winners were Nguyen Thi That in the women’s event and Nguyen Tan Hoai in the men’s category.

The tournament was an occasion for the athletes to pay tribute to the war heroes who sacrificed their lives in the 1954 historic triumph and for national liberation.

At the closing ceremony, the People’s Army newspaper, the organiser of the contest, granted 120 scholarships (each worth one million VND) to children of Dien Bien soldiers and two houses worth 120 million VND (5,640 USD) to the families of fallen war heroes.

That wins race on overall time

Despite not winning the final stage, veteran Nguyen Thi That held onto the yellow jersey for achieving the best overall time at the Return to Dien Bien Phu Cycling Tournament-People's Army Newspaper Cup which concluded yesterday.

With the support of her team, That from Gao Hat Ngoc Troi An Giang claimed the event's most coveted award with a time of 8:55.35 after five stages. Nguyen Phan Ngoc Trang of Binh Duong Environment and Water Supply and Drainage team and Trang's teammate Cao Thi Cam Le came runners-up.

That also retained the green jersey as best sprinter with 102 points, while Dang Thi Ngoc Huyen of Co May Dong Thap 2 took out the white jersey as best junior cyclist.

"I am very glad to win this event which aims to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the historic Dien Bien Phu victory over the French colonialists. I thank my training board and team for supporting me over last stages. With this, I will try my best to rank in the top three at the upcoming Asian event in Kazakhstan to boost the profile of Vietnamese cycling," said That.

The winning time for the final 74km stage from Tuan Giao Town to Dien Bien Phu City yesterday went to Pham Thi Kim Loan of Co May Dong Thap 1. She completed the stage in 2:17.00. That and her teammate Phan Thi Lieu came in second and third, respectively.

In the women's team ranking, Binh Duong triumphed, followed by Dong Thap 2 and An Giang.

On the men's side, Mohd Nor Rizuan Zainal of Malaysia won the final 130km stage from Thuan Chau Town to Dien Bien Phu City with a time of 3:15.05, followed by Aso Keisuke of Japan's Bonne Chace and Huynh Mai Duy of HCM City's SunTek Sao Viet.

Finishing fourth in this stage, veteran Le Van Duan won the green jersey with 81 points, while the white jersey went to Do Quang Vinh of the Military team.

Domesco Dong Thap Pharmacy's Nguyen Tan Hoai took the overall yellow jersey as the competition's leader with a combined time of 11:07.29.

In the team race, Dong Thap Pharmacy took the lead with a time of 33:25.06, followed by Sao Viet and ADC-Vinh Long Television 1.

The event attracted the participation of 115 cyclists from 23 local and international teams. Tournament organisers presented gifts to war veterans and those who had taken part in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign at the end of each stage.

Japan make it to knockout stage

Defending champions Japan bounced back strongly from their unexpected 2-1 defeat by Uzbekistan two days ago to trounce Kyrgyzstan 4-0 in their last match in group ‘D' yesterday at Phu Tho Indoor Stadium in HCM City.

With two wins and one loss, Japan was in second place with six points. This qualified them for the knockout stage of the ongoing Asian Futsal Championships, where they meet Thailand, who topped group ‘C' following a draw with Lebanon.

"It's tough to play one of the title contenders in the quarter finals but we must enjoy it because we are champions," Japan's Spanish coach Miguel Rodrigo said in the post-match conference.

Akira Minamoto opened the scoring with a point-blank tap-in. Nibuya Kazuhiro doubled the lead when he pounced home the rebound following Kaoru's on-target shot. Osodo Nobuya made it 3-0 for the Japanese when he turned home Inaba Kotaro's pass.

With five minutes to go, from a quick attack, Kotaro raced down into an opening left by Kyrgyzstan before easily putting home his second goal.

Uzbekistan beat South Korea 3-0 to top group ‘D' with nine points from three wins and will take on Lebanon in the last eight.

In the previous match of the day, Karim Abou Zeid struck a late goal to help Lebanon earn a 3-3 draw against Thailand in their last match in group ‘C' and finished in second place with four points to secure a ticket to the last eight.

Mohamad Zeitoun opened the scoring in the first minute of the match with a point-blank tap-in. Thailand were denied goals by the posts two times and the crossbar once before Karim doubled the advantage for Lebanon.

Thailand reduced the gap to one goal just one minute into the second half through Kritsada Wongkaeo and Suphawut Thueanklang grabbed a double within six minutes to put Thais ahead for the first time.

But the match had not finished yet when Karim had the ball from the half line of the pitch and powered a shot into the roof of the net to send Lebanon's players and coaching staff into ecstasy.

Despite the draw, Thailand, who were runners-up last tournament after losing 6-1 to Japan in the final, still won the group with seven points after two wins and one draw.

"We did not start well and our players seemed to sleep for the opening minutes and conceded goals," Thailand's coach Victor Hermans said.

The Dutchman also complained about the referees and sarcastically suggested that the AFC should spend more money on improving the refereeing.

On the title candidates, Hermans said Iran was the most likely to win the competition.

Malaysia and Taipei return home with each winning one match.

Bac Ninh hosts VTV Cup

The International Women's Volleyball Tournament, the VTV Cup, will take place between May 17-24 in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

Teams from Australia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Thailand, China and Viet Nam will compete in a round robin for four spots in the semi-finals.

The draw stipulates Viet Nam will meet Thailand on May 17, China on May 18, Australia on May 19, North Korea on May 20 and Kazakhstan on May 21.

The semi-finals matches will take place on May 23, with the finals and third-place playoff to be held on May 24.

All matches will be broadcast live on VTV3 and VTV6.

People's Police lead national boxing

People's Police team took the lead in the men's side at the National Boxing Championships which concluded in the southern province of Can Tho at the weekend.

The team pocketed three golds, one silver and three bronze, followed by Ha Noi with two gold medals, two silver and three bronze. Nghe An came in third with one gold, three silver and one bronze.

Hosts Can Tho and Son La came in first in the women's competition with two gold medals each. HCM City finished second with one gold, one silver and two bronze.

The seven-day event drew the participation of 196 athletes from 37 clubs nationwide competing in 22 weight divisions.

Viet Nam ranks second in regional athletics event

Viet Nam have won nine gold, 10 silver and four bronze medals to achieve the second rank in the Ninth Southeast Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

The gold medals were won by female athletes Ha Thi Thu in the 100-metres and 200-metres sprint events; Nguyen Thi Lan in the 100-metre hurdle; Khuat Phuong Anh in the 400-metre hurdle, Tran Thi Tham in the 800-metre race; Nguyen Thi Truc Mai in long jump, Lo Thi Hoang in javelin throw; and Nguyen Thi Hong Thuong in the discus and shot-put events.

Athletes from Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Viet Nam competed in 43 events in the two-day championship.

The event aimed to improve calibre of young athletes and promote amity and understanding among the countries in the region. It presented a concrete path for the young athletes to reach the ASEAN and international levels of competition.