Grandmaster Liem becomes fifth best in world
Vietnamese International Grandmaster (IGM) Le Quang Liem jumped one place to fifth after winning his fourth game at the Moscow Open chess tournament yesterday.
Liem beat host rival Valeri Yandemirov in the fourth round and currently has 3.5 points, level with leader, Boris Grachev of Russia. In the next round, Liem who entered the world top ten this week, will meet IGM Viktor Bologan of Moldova.
The HCM City-born player will remain in Moscow after the tournament ends on Sunday to participate in the world famous Aeroflot Open which will run from February 8-19.
There he will be joined by IGM teammates, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Nguyen Anh Dung and Nguyen Van Huy.
Badminton players to compete at Thomas Cup
Vietnamese badminton players will compete in the qualifying round of the world men's team tournament, the Thomas Cup, to be held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from February 22-28.
Nguyen Tien Minh, Nguyen Hoang Nam, Duong Bao Duc and Huynh Vinh will clash against rivals from 12 other teams for one of seven qualification places allocated to Asia.
Defending champions and the tournament hosts, China and Malaysia, automatically qualify. As a result, Viet Nam's main rivals will be Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand.
This year, Viet Nam will not compete in the Uber Cup as the women's team failed to qualify.
Thunderstruck player receives VFF support
Viet Nam's Football Federation leaders made a visit to donate VND10 million (US$520) to footballer Tran Thanh Truong who was struck by lightening in May 2008.
Truong suffered severe injuries along with four other players of the Nguyen Hoang Kien Giang team when the accident happened during a Second Division match.
His nervous system and memory were strongly affected and he is undergoing a lengthy physiotherapy course to try and get back to a normal life, but it could take a long time. Even now, he is still under doctors' supervision despite the accident being nearly two years ago.
Truong, according to his coaches, had the potential to play at a higher level such as the First Division or possibly the V-League. — VNS