Vietnamese weightlifters seek 2016 Olympics berths at World Championships

Vietnam will send its men’s team of five weightlifters to compete in the 2014 IWF World Championships, scheduled to take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan from November 4-16, aiming to seek early berths in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

The team includes Asiad runner-up, Thach Kim Tuan and 2012 Olympic fourth-place finisher, Tran Le Quoc Toan (56kg); and three 27th SEA Games runners-up, Nguyen Hong Ngoc (77kg), Hoang Tan Tai (85kg) and Tran Van Hoa (94kg).

According to IWF regulations, National Olympic Committees (NOCs) could earn quota places according to their position in the combined Team Classification by points, adding those scored in the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships.

Specifically, six quota places are allocated to each NOC of top six ranking, five for each in 7th-12th ranking, four for each in 13th-18th ranking and three for each in 19th-24th ranking. This is considered the most positive opportunity for Vietnamese weightlifters to book slots in Rio.

In case of failing this time, they will also be able to earn 2016 Olympic tickets through the Continental Qualification Event in 2016, but it promises to be much tougher as only seven places are up for grabs, with each of the top seven NOCs regarding the Team Classification securing just one.

Trang jumps one place to 59th in world rankings

Vu Thi Trang has jumped one place to 59th in the world rankings, the Badminton World Federation announced on Thursday.

It is the highest any female Vietnamese badminton player has ever been ranked.

The Bac Giang Province-born athlete is aiming to break into the top 20.

In the men's rankings, top player Nguyen Tien Minh stayed at world No 24, while young talent Pham Cao Cuong rose one spot to 174th.

Vovinam martial artists seek to defend regional championship title

Vietnamese martial artists have departed for Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, beginning their title defence campaign at the 3rd Southeast Asian Vovinam Championships from October 19-25.  

The week-long event is expected to gather hundreds of fighters from seven regional countries: hosts Myanmar, Vietnam, Lao, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines – two participating delegations more than last year’s competition.

Thirty artists will represent Vietnam at the tournament, 18 in the combat category and 12 in the demonstration discipline.

Vietnam triumphed in the 2013 edition hosted in Cambodia, winning a total of 11 gold and 11 silver medals. Cambodia came in second place with four gold, two silver and nine bronze, while Indonesia ranked third with three gold, three silver and nine bronze medals.

Vovinam – a Vietnamese martial art – is a type of Vietnamese strength sports. It has seen significant growth over the past years with pride worthy results achieved on the international stage.

Tam wins sixth stage as Duy retains yellow jersey

Nguyen Thanh Tam of Gao Hat Ngoc Troi took the sixth stage of the Nam Ky Khoi Nghia cycling tour yesterday.

Tam clocked a time of 2:17.24 over the 97km stage from Da Lat to Bao Loc City.

Domesco Pharmacy Dong Thap's Nguyen Truong Tai and his teammate Do Tuan Anh, who won the fifth stage, finished second and third.

Huynh Mai Duy of HCM City retained the yellow jersey with help from his team with an overall time of 17:32.31 after six stages, followed by Nguyen Van Duc of VTV Can Tho and Nguyen Minh Tam of HCM City's Vinamit.

Tam has already secured the green jersey as best sprinter with 61 points.

Today, cyclists will compete along the last stage from Dinh Quan District in Dong Nai Province to HCM City's Hoc Mon District.

Three new faces called up for national football team

Japanese coach Toshiya Miura has called up three new faces from the Olympic team for the national squad in preparation for the upcoming HCM City Football Cup in late October.

Minh Tung, Ngoc Thang and Thanh Hien all competed at the 17th Asian Games in South Korea earlier this month.

Miura said he has chosen the players to reinforce strength and enthusiasm in his squad.

The cup will be the last test for the squad before they compete at the Suzuki Cup 2014 to be co-hosted by Viet Nam and Singapore from November 20 to December 20.

Vietnamese women’s football team honoured for significant Asiad results

A warm awards ceremony was held in Hanoi on October 16 to honour the Vietnamese women’s national football team who finished in the top four teams at the 17th Asian Games (ASIAD 17) in Incheon, the Republic of Korea (RoK) this September.

The team gave an impressive performance at the games, beating Thailand 2-1 in their quarterfinal match for a berth in the semi-finals. Unfortunately, Vietnam could not make a win against strong rivals Japan in the semi-final and the RoK in their clash for third place.

By securing a place in the top four teams in the continent for the first time, the team won their home fans’ trust and were welcomed as ‘heroes’ on their ‘triumphant’ return.

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and the Hanoi municipal People's Committee have each decided to reward VND1 billion to the team.

Speaking at the ceremony, VFF Secretary General Le Hoai Anh affirmed that over the past ten years, the Vietnam women's football team has increasingly improved their position, not only in the Southeast Asian region, but also on the continent arena. Through major tournaments, the Vietnamese women have always proved that they were one of the teams in the highest level of competitiveness.

"In the world rankings for this year's third quarter, the No. 34 position by Vietnam can be considered a fairly objective reflection of the team’s development level", Anh emphasised.

On behalf of the VFF and Hanoi leaders, VFF Secretary General Le Hoai Anh and Deputy Head of Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nguyen Dinh Lan presented the reward to the national women's football team.

In 2015, Vietnamese women will attend two important events: the 2015 Southeast Asia Women's Championship and the second qualifying round – Asian region to Summer Olympic Games.