World No 10 Minh to compete in Korea Open

Vietnamese world No 10 ranked Nguyen Tien Minh will compete at the upcoming Victor Korean Open badminton tournament in Seoul.

According to the draw, Minh will play Hong Kong's Hu Yun in the men's singles first match during the January 7-12 tournament. Hu is ranked No 11 in the world.

In their seven previous meets, Hu has won four matches.

The Open is a competition sponsored by the Superseries system of the Badminton World Federation, which provides US$600,000 to the winners.

Last year, Minh was eliminated during the first round of competition by Wong Wing Ki, also from Hong Kong. Minh retired in the third set when the score was 14-21, 21-12, 12-18.

Thien ousts Quan in first round clash

Nguyen Hoang Thien defeated Do Minh Quan in the first match of Group A in the Viet Nam Masters in HCM City.

The fifth seed won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 over the fourth seed, who dominated the national tennis championships for several years before slipping down the rankings earlier this year.

In the next match, HCM City's Thien, the national runner-up, will play the top seed, Pham Minh Tuan of Da Nang.

Tuan yesterday beat Tran Hoang Anh Khoa of Military 6-3, 6-3.

Host athletes Quan and Khoa will play in later matches of the group.

In Group B, Le Quoc Khanh retired in the third set. He was 3-6, 7-5, 3-1 down against his Hanoian rival Trinh Linh Giang before he quit.

In the other match, Military representative Tran Thanh Hoang came from behind to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 against his teammate, Ho Huynh Dan Mach.

Today, Khanh will face Mach, while Hoang meets Giang.

In the women's competition, the higher-ranking seeds earned easy victories in the second match of the group round.

Huynh Phuong Dai Trang of HCM City beat Le Thi Thanh Thuy of Kien Giang 6-0, 6-0, while Huynh Phi Khanh won 6-2, 6-3 against Tay Ninh's Tran Thi Thanh Thanh.

Meanwhile, Tran Thi Tam Hao defeated Dao Minh Trang 6-2, 6-2, while Nguyen Ai Ngoc Van trounced Si Boi Ngoc 6-4, 6-2.

The Masters, an end-of-year tournament, offers a total of VND280 million (US$13,300) in prize money. The cream of the crop will be selected for the country's David Cup and the Fed Cup qualification rounds.

The finals are scheduled for December 31.

The organisers plan to open the event to regional competitors in the near future.

U19 championship to begin in February

Twenty-one teams will take part in the qualifying round of the National Under-19 Football Championship starting on February 9.

The teams will be divided into four groups, playing a two-leg round-robin format in Ha Noi, Nghe An, Binh Duong and Gia Lai.

The two top teams in each group will advance to the final round, which will be held from March 9 to March 19.

Leading players advance at Viet Nam Masters

There were no surprises in the second round of the Viet Nam Masters tennis tournament yesterday in HCM City, with the stronger players all progressing to the next round.

National championship runner-up Nguyen Hoang Thien of HCM City had no difficulty in beating overseas Vietnamese Vu Aterm of the Military team 6-2, 6-1.

The Military team's Ho Huynh Dan Mach came from behind to overcome Lam Quang Tri of Ca Mau before Tri had to retire with an injury.

Tran Hoang Anh Khoa trounced Military teammate Le Cong Tien 6-3, 6-2.

Ha Noi's Trinh Linh Giang was also leading rising star Nguyen Dac Tien 6-2, 3-0, before the teenager withdrew from injury.

In the main round, Thien and Khoan will play in Group A where they will meet wildcard holders former national champion Do Minh Quan (HCM City) and Pham Minh Tuan (Da Nang). In Group B, Mach and Giang will face Le Quoc Khanh (HCM City) and Tran Thanh Hoang (Military).

In the women's event, Huynh Phi Khanh overpowered Dao Minh Trang 7-6, 6-3 in an all HCM City match in Group A, while Tran Thi Tam Hao beat Tran Thi Thanh Thanh of Tay Ninh 6-1, 6-1.

In Group B, HCM City's Huynh Phuong Dai Trang defeated teammate Si Boi Ngoc 6-0, 6-1, while Nguyen Ai Ngoc Van from HCM City won 6-1, 6-0 over Le Thi Thanh Thuy of Kien Giang.

Viet Nam to play AS Roma in under-19 tourney

Viet Nam will play AS Roma in an international under-19 football tournament, the Nutifood Cup, which will be organised in HCM City on January 6-10.

Prior to that, the English Premier League's Tottenham Hospur team will meet Japan in the Thong Nhat stadium.

The Vietnamese squad was sent to Gia Lai Province earlier this week, where the players will train for several days.

Yesterday, they lost 4-6 to V-League's Hoang Anh Gia Lai in a friendly match.

They will move to HCM City for the tournament on January 4. The foreign players are expected to arrive on the same day, while the Japanese will arrive a day earlier.

The host team then will attend a training course in Belgium from March 21 to April 22. They will later move to practise at the campus of European giant, Arsenal.