More U21 players required in Vietnam football league

Young players will be used more often on the field in V-League matches. Photo by Kha Hoa.

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has asked that under age 21 players be used more often in the 2012 football season.

For several seasons, the clubs have been asked to include at least five players who are younger than 21 years old in their registered teams.

The teams have complied with the rules, but they haven’t actually used the young players on the field because they say the young players are inexperienced.

However, the new rule asks that at least two U21 players be often used on the filed in their squad.

The new rule is expected to put the clubs under certain pressure, making the clubs focus more on training young players at their own clubs rather than just focusing a little on youth training.

The new rule did not result from the heavy loss of the Vietnamese U23 squad at the South East Asian Games in Indonesia last month.

It has been a big concern among pundits and fans that young players haven’t had many opportunities to play enough to improve their skills and consequently, to improve the Vietnamese football.

By Quang Tuyen, Thanh Nien News

Vietnamese chess ace to compete in Beijing

Vietnam's chess ace Le Quang Liem (R) will compete at the 2011 World Mind Sports Games in Beijing from December 8-12. Photo by Kha Hoa.

Vietnam’s No. 1 chess player Le Quang Liem will fly to China on Monday to compete at the 2011 World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) in Beijing from December 8-12.

The 28^th-ranked Liem plans to play in the rapid and blitz events, and is likely to compete in the blindfold contest, too.

The event organizers invited 16 world stars with elo 2,700 and over; the 20-year-old Liem (elo 2717) is in the 10^th place out of the 16 competitors.

Chess experts say that Liem is not likely to finish among the top spots because he is not very good at rapid and blitz chess, but the South East Asian champion Liem will probably do well in the blindfold event.

In addition to Liem, Ngo Lan Huong and Nguyen Hoang Lam will compete in the Xiangqi (Chinese chess) contest at the WMSG.

Hoang Lam and Lan Huong won two gold medals in the men’s and women’s contests at the 15th Asian Xiangqi Individual Championships in Macau last month.

By Hoang Quynh, Thanh Nien News

Vietnamese student wins South East Asia music contest

On Saturday, 20-year-old student Hoang Thi Yen Chi beat rivals from Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to win the highest prize at the singing contest “Like performing, love Sony”, which was held in Singapore.

Hoang Thi Yen Chi, 20,(R) has just won the South East Asian contest “Like performing, love Sony”, held in Singapore

The third year student from the English Language and Literature Faculty at Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Social Sciences and Humanities was crowned after her performance of the song “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.

The first and second runner-ups are contestants from the Philippines and Singapore, respectively.

Chi says she will spend the winning cash on her studies, in addition to chasing her dream of singing.

The contest was part of the music festival called “Uphoria - Party with Sony”, held by the Japanese multinational media corporation Sony, for regional music fans from December 2 to 4.

US singer Mike Posner and the band Train, Malaysian singer Haoren, Julia Abueva from Singapore, and Slot Machine from Thailand also performed at the event.

Born in 1991, Chi won the first prize at the contest’s national qualifier round in Vietnam with the song “Bong May Qua Them” (Clouds over the front yard) last month.

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Acclaimed violinist set to add cheer to festive season

Leading Vietnamese violinist Bui Cong Duy will play several famous Christmas tunes to get Hanoi in the festive spirit at the monthly music programme Music Space later this month.

Leading Vietnamese violinist Bui Cong Duy

Duy was honoured with the Most Talented Violinist award at the Concours Autumn 1990, a national contest which aims to recognise outstanding young Vietnamese musicians, when he was only nine years old.

Duy has sharpened his talent by winning other awards on the international stage, including first prize at the Demidov International Music Contest in Ekaterinburg, Russia, in 1993, and the award for the best performance of J S Bach, for which he was given the title "Asian Pride" that same year.

He then won the Tchaikovsky International Music Contest for young violinists in Saint Petersburg in 1997.

He has also performed with famous chamber orchestras such as the Novosibirsk Philharmonic orchestra, the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Kapella Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Festival Orchestra in many countries such as Italy , Japan , German, Poland , England , Russia and France.

For the Music Space programme, Duy, who currently lectures at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, will perform Silent Night, Joy to the World, and White Christmas.

Songstress Nguyen Thao will once again aim to conquer Music Space's audiences with her passionate and energetic voice after her first performance in May.

Thao will perform the song Tieng Chuong Ngan (Echo of the Ringing Bell) by composer Bao Chan for the first time along with a few songs from her upcoming album which is expected to be released at the beginning of next year.

Young Vietnamese-Canadian singer Hoa Tran is among the other artists scheduled to perform at the show. With Vietnamese, English and French language abilities, Hoa will feature famous French songs as well as several Vietnamese-English pieces by Vietnamese-American composer Nguyen Xinh Xo, whose song Dong Ho Treo Tuong (Wall Clock) won the Song of the Year title at the Vietnamese Song contest last year.

Music Space will take place at the Nguy Nhu Kon Tum auditorium, 19 Le Thanh Tong Street at 7.30pm, December 24-25. Tickets cost from 1 million VND to 2 million VND (50-100 USD) and are available at www.khonggianamnhac.com.

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VN set sights on place in top three

Aiming high: Vietnamese athletes train at the National Sport Centre in Ha Noi in preparation for the ASEAN Para Games. — VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI — A 112-member squad of disabled Vietnamese athletes is set to compete in seven events in the hope of a top three finish at the ASEAN Para Games, the largest regional sporting event for disabled athletes, in Indonesia from December 12-20.

Team members will compete in track and field, badminton, weightlifting, swimming, table tennis, chess and tennis in Surakarta, Indonesia.

A send-off ceremony will be held for the team today at the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Ha Noi.

At the previous event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, two years ago, Viet Nam bagged 73 gold, 57 silver and 45 bronze medals to rank third in the medal tally.

Swimmers Nguyen Thi Hao and Le Tuan Dat won gold medals and set new Asian records in the women's and men's 50m breaststroke, while Nguyen Thi Sa Ry was voted as the best female athlete of the Games.

Vo Hoang Anh Khoa and Le Thi Dung also set two ASEAN Para Games records in the men's 50m butterfly and women's 200m freestyle.

Established in 1995 with 15 staff members in Ha Noi, Viet Nam Paralympic Committee has attracted tens of thousands of disabled people to regular training camps organised in 41 cities and provinces. — VNS

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Vietnamese ao dai to be showcased in London

A collection featuring ao dai designed with patterns from the UK’s royal costumes by Vietnamese designer Minh Hanh will be showcased in London next week to mark the occasion that Vietnam Airlines opens direct flights to London from December 8.

Two ao dai from Minh Hanh's collection which will be showcased in london next week

The collection includes 100 ao dai made by Vietnamese traditional fabrics like silk, brocatelle and jute and decorated with hand – embroidered patterns.

The show will take place on December 9 at the Gatwick Airport, the destination of direct flights by Boeing B777-200ER aircrafts from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

In related news, Vietnamese fashion designer Vo Viet Chung also brought his ao dai collection named “Qua Tang Cua Thuong De” (The Present from God) inspired from the James Cameron’s blockbuster “Avatar” to the show titled “J Autumn Fashion Show” in London in October.

The event, featuring the latest collections by global designers including Bettie Page and Ina Soltani from America, Razu Mikhina from Russia, Addy van den Krommenacker from Netherlands, Paul Costelloe from UK and Kenzo from French, took place on the 61m-long walkway of England's iconic London Tower Bridge.

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Vietnam pares back Olympic ambitions

Vietnam has halved its target for Olympic berths in London next year to 10 after reconsidering its athletes’ qualifying chances.

Gymnast Pham Phuoc Hung is expected to win 2012 Olympic berths for Vietnam

According to Hoang Vinh Giang, vice chairman and general secretary of the Vietnamese Olympic Committee, Vietnam has won five berths through badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh, gymnast Phan Thi Ha Thanh, swimmer Hoang Quy Phuoc, and taekwondo artists Dieu Linh and Huynh Chau.

“We hope to win at least five more berths and our hopes are pinned on sprinter Vu Thi Huong, medium-distance runner Truong Thanh Hang, gymnast Pham Phuoc Hung, shooter Ha Minh Thanh, and a fencer,” Giang said.

More investments and training

Hang successfully defended her 800m title at the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia this month, but Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Athletics Federation, was still unhappy: “Hang did extremely well in the first 600 meters and would have qualified for the Olympics if she had maintained her speed over the final 200 metres.

“We have no complaints about Hang’s performances in training. At times her results were far better than Olympic qualifying times, but her performance in actual competitions has not been very good.

“I, coach Ho Thi Tu Tam, and other trainers will continue to look for the reasons, and will have plans to help Hang and other athletes improve their performance to reach the set goals. Hang will continue to train in China.”

About sprinter Huong, Hung said: “The General Department of Physical Training and Sports as well as the [Vietnam Athletics] Federation still hope Huong will qualify for the Olympics, but she is still recovering from injury, which makes it hard for her.

“However, we still believe in her and recently coach Dinh Minh suggested hiring a foreign coach, perhaps an American one, to help Huong achieve the goal.”

Hopes are also pinned on young woman high jumper Duong Viet Anh who won the gold at the recent SEA Games after jumping 1.90 meters because the B standard - referred to as the Olympic Invitational Time, which is slightly easier to achieve - is 1.92 m.

Hang, Huong, and Anh will compete in three Asian Grand Prix events in May, June, and July and a few events in Europe, hoping to qualify for the Olympics.

Male gymnast Hung (parallel bars), who won the gold medal at the SEA Games, will compete in Britain next month to qualify for the Olympics, but it is going to be arduous since he will come up against 94 other strong international contestants from around the world.

It is a pity that though Vietnam is allowed to field one more female competitor, Thu Huyen and Ngan Thuong cannot go because of injuries.

Vietnamese fencers will compete in the Asian qualifiers in Japan next April, and the coaching staff hope one of them will qualify for the Olympics. They prefer not to mention names, though Vietnam won five gold medals at the SEA Games.

Four Vietnamese will compete in the Asian Shooting Championships in Qatar next month, but it will be very hard. Hoang Xuan Vinh, one of them, said it would be great if they could qualify for the Olympics. If they fail to, wild card Ha Minh Thanh in the men’s 20m rapid shooting pistol event will have to carry the nation’s hopes.

In rowing, coach Nguyen Van Thang said the only hopes are in the men’s and women’s doubles categories.

The Asia canoeing qualifying contests are likely to be too difficult for Vietnamese competitors since they can only qualify if they win. Thang said Vietnam was seeking a wild card for Tran Van Long, Southeast Asia’s best canoeist now.

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