Tennis 

Vietnamese players at the ITF Team Championships for Girls U14 - Asia/Oceania Pre‑Qualifying. The team place second and earn slot in the ITF World Junior Tennis' event next month. — Photo courtesy of VTF

LÂM ĐỒNG — Việt Nam will be one of teams competing in the ITF World Junior Tennis' final qualifier next month in Kuching, Malaysia.

The Vietnamese girls successfully placed second in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Team Championships for Girls U14 - Asia/Oceania Pre‑Qualifying which ended over weekend in Lâm Đồng Province's NovaWorld Phan Thiết tennis complex.

In the final match, Việt Nam lost 0-2 to Uzbekistan. Nguyễn Linh Nhi was beaten 6-4, 6-2 by Khusanova Margarita while Tô Bình Nhiên was defeated 6-1, 6-3 by Nizamieva Zlata.

Earlier, the host side won over 2-1 over Singapore in the semi-finals and took three wins in the group round with the same 3-0 score against Maldives, Macau-China and Mongolia.

The one-week tournament which ended over the weekend featured nearly 80 athletes from 18 teams in the Asia/Oceania area such as Pakistan, Mongolia, the Philippines, Kuwait, Guam, Laos, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and the hosts

Speaking in the awarding ceremony, Asian Tennis Federation representative Manpreet Kandhari congratulated players and appreciated the international standard of the facilities and professional organisation which created favourable conditions for hosting major tournaments. She believed that in the future, Việt Nam would continue to be an ideal destination for many international tennis tournaments.

Việt Nam and Uzbekistan will compete in the Malaysian event on April 21 to May 3. It is a step for their campaign to compete in the ITF World Junior Tennis Final on August 3-8 which will be held at TK Prostejov in Prostejov, Czechia.

After the girls' competition in Lâm Đồng, the boys' tournament will be kicked off in the same venue. — VNS