Category: Sports

As the biennial AFC U23 Asian Cup was officially kicked off on April 15, the continental football governing body has spotlighted Vietnamese Nguyen Quang Hai in the list of the top 10 players who showcased their talent at previous editions and look to continue their rise to prominence.

“Many of those who have stood out for their countries over the years have gone on to become key performers for their senior national teams and represent some of the biggest clubs in Asia and beyond,” said the AFC report.

Midfielder Hai was one of the most successful players in Vietnam’s squad at the 2018 tournament in Changzhou, China, where Vietnam made its best ever result at a continental competition, finishing at second place.

“It’s not often a goal gets a name of its own but Vietnam’s youngster Nguyen Quang Hai’s magnificent free kick against Uzbekistan in the 2018 final has that honour after coming to be known as the ‘Rainbow in the Snow’. Even though the Southeast Asians narrowly missed out on the title, the tournamen
t showcased Hai’s talent to the world,” the website reads.

“Hai notched up five goals in Vietnam’s historic run to the final, including a brace against the United Arab Emirates in a thrilling semi-final, and went on to be named the MVP when Park Hang-seo’s side overcame Malaysia to win the AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) Cup in 2018. He also played an instrumental role when the Golden Star Warriors made it to the final eight of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.”

Not only shining internationally, Hai was also key member of Hanoi FC, helping the club to win national premier league titles in 2018, 2019 and 2022, the National Cup in 2019, 2020, 2022 and the Super Cup in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022, although in the 2022 season he played only half time before moving to Pau FC in the French Ligue 2.

Returning to Vietnam last year, he signed a contract with defending champions Hanoi Police. After a short time struggling to find his form, Hai is now the best local scorer with six goals in V-League 1 after 15 rounds.

Other pla
yers honoured by the AFC include forward Takuma Asano of Japan, right winger Suphanat Mueanta of Thailand, striker Firas Al-Buraikan of Saudi Arabia, midfielder Lee Kang In of South Korea and left winger Akram Afif of Qatar.

At this year’s cup, Vietnam will play in Group D with Kuwait, Uzbekistan and Malaysia.

The AFC took an in-depth look at the teams and predicted Vietnam to have opportunity to enter the next round.

“Led by the impressive Nguyen Quang Hai, Vietnam went close to becoming the first Southeast Asian team to win the competition when they reached the final in 2018, only to be outdone by Uzbekistan in extra time,” it posted.

“Vietnam qualified for the Finals after topping Group C with seven points. Initial wins against Guam (6-0) and Yemen (1-0) meant that the Golden Star Warriors secured their passage with a game to spare, before a much-changed side drew 2-2 with Singapore in their final match.

“With seven national team players including Nguyen Thai Son and Khuat Van Khang in the squad, Viet
nam will be stronger contenders for a spot in the knockout stage.”

The Vietnamese team are not given any mission at this tournament. However, coach Hoang Anh Tuan set it himself.

“Actually, the Vietnam Football Federation and I personally always have goals before each tournament. However, in this difficult time, VFF does not place heavy responsibility on us, asking us to play as best as possible,” said Tuan.

“VFF does not set goal, but we want to set it ourselves. We will play with highest determination and great effort to at least get through the group stage.”/.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The south-central province of Khanh Hoa will host the first international jazz festival in Nha Trang city from April 27 to May 1.

The event will take place at April 2 Square and Thanh Nien Stadium with the participation of more than 100 artists across the country as well as those from the US, Singapore and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

It aims to showcase the diversity and allure of jazz worldwide to both local spectators as well as popularise Nha Trang city as a safe and exciting destination for domestic and foreign tourists.

This year, Khanh Hoa province expects to earn 40 trillion VND (1.58 billion USD) in tourism revenue and welcome more than 9 million tourist arrivals, including 3 million foreign visitors.

To this end, it plans to host dozens of festivals, cultural events, and introduce new tourism products in 2024 to lure more tourists and boost local tourism. They include a series of seminars in April, focusing on the historical and cultural values, and people of Nha Trang, and its socio-economic d
evelopment and green growth.

The Sea Tourism Fair will be held at the April 2 Square in Nha Trang from June 13-16, featuring 200 stalls to introduce tourism products, cuisine, and speciality products of Khanh Hoa and coastal provinces. The fair will also offer tourism seminars, a street carnival, and live music and dance performances and is expected to lure 150,000 visitors.

The province will launch an art light festival with the theme of ‘Ever Glamour Nha Trang 2024’ every Saturday from June 29 to July 20 at Nha Trang Bay. The event will see the participation of four teams from Vietnam, China, the RoK and India, who will present drone performances featuring the themes of “Hello Vietnam, Glorious Ocean, Stories of Heritage, and Glamour Nha Trang”./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) announced on April 15 that its President Tran Quoc Tuan has been appointed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as head of the AFC delegation at the ongoing U23 Asian Football Championship finals in Qatar.

Tuan is now Chairman of the AFC Competition Committee for the 2023-2027 tenure, member of the Organising Committee for the Asian Cup for the 2023-2027 tenure, Chairman of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) Competition Committee for the 2022-2026 term, and member of the AFF Finance Committee.

He was appointed by the AFC as the Football Manager for the Incheon 2014 ASIAD and the Hangzhou 2023 ASIAD, and he is also a member of the Executive Committee for the Asian Cup 2024 finals in Qatar.

In the 2024 U23 Asian Championship finals, the Vietnam U23 team is in Group D along with Kuwait, Malaysia and Uzbekistan. They will face U23 Kuwait on April 17, Malaysia on April 20 and Uzbekistan on April 23./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on April 15 approved the logo to be used in all communications activities for the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory.

The logo by designer To Minh Trang from Hanoi features double-stroke number 70 drawn in reverse, demonstrating the arduous process of overcoming all difficulties and the determination of Vietnamese people and soldiers to achieve the victory of Dien Bien Phu.

The strokes of the number 70 is multidimensional coloured to create a shimmering and magical visual feeling, expressing the entire nation’s joyful atmosphere for the victory.

In the background of number 0 is the symbol of Dien Bien soldiers in victory. The entire text part of the logo is blue, representing peace and the heroic Vietnam People’s Army. It is also the typical colour of the northwestern mountains and forests.

On March 13, 1954, the Vietnamese revolutionary army launched the first attack against the French colonialists’ heavily fortified base of Dien Bien Phu, sta
rting a 56-day historic campaign whose victory directly led to the signing of the Geneva Accords on ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina.

From May 1 to 7, 1954, the Vietnamese troops seized control over the fortifications in the east and waged a general offensive to decimate the entire military base of Dien Bien Phu.

At 5:30pm on May 7, 1954, the ‘To Fight, To Win’ flag of the Vietnamese army was raised on the top of the command bunker of French general De Castries. By the midnight on the same day, all the French troops were captured.

During the 56 days of undaunted, brave, and creative fighting, the Vietnamese army and people created the Dien Bien Phu Victory that ‘resounded across the five continents and shook the globe’. The entire so-called ‘invincible’ fortition of Dien Bien Phu was completely eradicated by the Vietnamese army and people.

President Ho Chi Minh affirmed that the Dien Bien Phu Victory was a brilliant golden milestone in history that directly led to the signing of the Geneva
Accords on ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina. It also created the foundation and conditions for the Vietnamese people to secure victory in the resistance war against the US, liberate the South, and reunify the country in 1975./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Three national track cyclists led by Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang have unofficially qualified for the Paris Olympic Games in the sprint and keirin events, according to Asean Cycling Federation (ACF) secretary-general Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill.

He said the other two cyclists are Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri.

‘This is based on the points collected. Nurul Izzah competed in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Track Nations Cup in Canada yesterday and UCI will issue the latest rankings list this afternoon or tonight.

‘On April 22, the International Olympic Committee will send an official list (of qualifiers) to all National Olympic Committees,’ Amarjit, who is also a UCI committee member, told Bernama today.

So far, six Malaysians – Bertrand Rhodict Lises (diving), Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif (sailing), Johnathan Wong (shooting), Ariana Nur Dania Mohd Zairi (archery), Nur Aisyah Mohd Zubir (road cycling) and Mohamad Aniq Kasdan (weightlifting) – have confirmed thei
r places in the Paris Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to Aug 11.

If Nurul Izzah Izzati, 20, confirms her slot in the Olympics, the Kedahan will be joining Bertrand Rhodict and Ariana Nur Dania, both 19; Mohamad Aniq, 22; and Nur Shazrin and Nur Aisyah, both 26 – in making their Olympics debut.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SERDANG, The country’s seven-a-side (7s) rugby squad have big dreams of accomplishing two important missions at the Southeast Asian 7s (SEA 7s) Championship that will take place in Singapore this May 2-3.

The head coach of the national 7s men’s rugby squad Nik Safuan Ismade Nik Man said his men must show encouraging performances to book a final slot as stipulated by the National Sports Council and Malaysia Rugby (MR).

In addition, they also need to run up as many game minutes as possible to improve their stamina before going to the Asia Rugby Seven Series Championship this September and November.

“We want to reach the final and at the same time need to pack in playing minutes for the main tournament which is the Asia Rugby Seven Series in South Korea and China in September while in Bangkok in November.

“(After all, this is) a combination between (six) new players and old players. If all goes according to script, there is no problem because the majority of them have at least played once in the local leagu
e,” he told Bernama after a training session at the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) pitch here today.

Nik Safuan reminded his men not to take the international challenge lightly, which will see action by seven other countries namely Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia and the invited team of Taiwan.

He said at this time, it is important that the national players are free from injuries to ensure they are in fighting mood, starting with the friendly match with the Singapore team this Saturday (April 20) at the Mount Austin Rugby Stadium in Johor Bahru.

‘There are three countries that we need to be wary of, which are Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines, while the friendly match will be more about maintaining the bond between players and seeing what our weaknesses are.

‘Even Singapore will not settle for the main players. They are also trying to find core players in that (friendly match) so I have not set any KPI (key performance indicator),’ he said.

Nik Safuan, 43, who is a
former national player, said voting for the group draw will most likely only be known next week.

The Southeast Asian 7s tournament will take place at Jurong Stadium in Singapore except for the final which will be held at the Singapore National Stadium.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, The national track cycling camp endured another poor show as they finished empty-handed at the 2024 UCI (International Cycling Union) Track Nations Cup campaign in Milton, Canada, on Sunday.

In the men’s sprint event, Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom crashed out early in the qualifying round at the Mattamy National Track Cycling Centre.

The gold medal went to Dutch rider Harrie Lavresyen who edged out Surinamese rider Jair Tjon En Fa who had to settle for silver.

Meanwhile, national female cyclist Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri had to settle for eighth place in the keirin event.

Kedah-born Nurul Izzah had previously raced in the repechage round before finishing sixth in the second round thus qualifying for the final.

The gold medal went to New Zealand cyclist Ellesse Andrews.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency