Viet Nam to join Asian Gymnastics Championships

Five athletes of the Vietnamese national youth gymnastics team have left for Chiba, Japan to compete in the Asian Junior Artistic and Trampoline Gymnastics Championships, scheduled to be held from March 13-16.

According to the official draw, Viet Nam are in group B with Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and a mixed team of Thailand, Jordan and Uzbekistan.

The tournament features such events as floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, horisontal bar and parallel bars. The championships are a qualifying event for the first Youth Olympic Games 2010, which will be organised in Singapore from August 14-26.

Viet Anh leaves for IAAF athletics scholarship

Dinh Thi Viet Anh left for Beijing yesterday to attend a six-month training course at the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) ‘s High Performance Training Centre.

The Vietnamese high jumper, who won a bronze medal at the Southeast Asian Games last December, received an IAAF scholarship.

The course will start today and Viet Anh will be coached by experienced experts at the IAAF.

Nguyen Thi Lan had also received a similar scholarship for pole vaulting.

Nat'l badminton team to compete at Asian champs

The Vietnamese national badminton team will take part in the Asian Badminton Championship, which will kick off in New Delhi, India in April.

According to the badminton department officials, the team will include world No 7 Nguyen Tien Minh, Olympian Le Ngoc Nguyen Nhung, Nguyen Hoang Nam and the national female champion Nguyen Binh Tho, who has just returned after years of academic study.

All players will play their first match on April 14. The final matches are scheduled to be held on April 18. — VNS