SPORTS: 2012

Thứ Bảy, 10 tháng 3, 2012

Podcast: Galaxy looks poised to repeat their MLS title

The Galaxy’s bid to retain its MLS Cup title begins this weekend and is the main topic of discussion in this week’s Yahoo! Soccer Podcast, in conjunction with World Football Daily.

David Beckham is among many big names leading the way for the Galaxy.
(Getty Images)

As the league’s biggest draw, featuring the likes of David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane, the Galaxy look poised to embark upon a long period of success, aided by their huge financial advantage over rivals.

I discuss the chances of the league’s strongest sides with Ives Galarcep, chief writer for Fox Soccer and founder of the Soccer By Ives website. We predict out top four finishers in each conference before picking the overall champion.

But if the so-called experts can’t get it right, maybe technology can. Aaron McHardy, producer of the wildly popular “FIFA 12” videogame by EA Sports, appeared on the show to detail who the game is expecting to emerge victorious. Given EA Sports’ track record in successfully selecting the winner of previous World Cups, MLS Cups and Super Bowls, it’s worth following McHardy’s analysis closely.

Also on this week’s podcast is a run of the remarkable Champions League action from Europe, where Lionel Messi smashed five goals past Bayer Leverkusen for a record-breaking performance in the competition.

Eric Gomez of Goal.com discusses whether anyone can possibly stop Barcelona, and likens Messi to two superstars of American sports in an attempt to quantify his immortality.

Tim Caple of Eurosport then examines the fairytale story of APOEL Nicosia, the tiny club from the island of Cyprus that has stunned experts by clinching a spot in the quarterfinal of the Champions League thanks to its penalty shootout triumph against Lyon.

Finally, World Football Daily co-host Sophie Nicolaou and I look ahead to next week’s Champions League clashes, where big names such as Chelsea, Real Madrid Inter Milan and Bayern Munich have work to do if they are to avoid elimination.

To have your questions answered in next week’s show please message Martin Rogers on Twitter at @mrogersyahoo.

To subscribe to the full version of World Football Daily, go towww.worldfootballdaily.com and sign up to receive one of three gifts: a Bumpy Pitch cap, a limited edition Lionel Messi T-shirt or a copy of “The Soccer Men,” the new book by Simon Kuper.

And to download the Yahoo! Soccer Podcast on iTunes, search for “Yahoo Sports Radio - Martin Rogers.”

Thứ Sáu, 17 tháng 2, 2012

Liem relinquishes Aeroloft Open title following loss

VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam's top chess player Le Quang Liem lost to Daniel Alsina Leal from Spain on Monday in the seventh round of the Aeroloft Open in Russia.

Leal played an offensive game and won in 69 moves.

The Vietnamese player will next meet Lu Shanglei of China. Liem has already lost the title he has held for the past two years. With just two matches left, Liem stands in 67th out of 86 participants with 2.5 points. Mateusz Bartel from Poland is in the lead with 5.5 points.

* Binh Duong tennis team to compete in US

Binh Duong's tennis team will fly to the US on March 6 to compete in friendly events at the invitation of the University of Idaho.

The team includes Nguyen Tuan Anh, Nguyen Hoang Hai, Mai Thanh Dong, Huynh Minh Hung, Ly Hoang Nam, Nguyen Hamilton Jonathan and coach Tran Duc Quynh.

They will compete in seven friendly events with local university and college teams and two events organised by the International Tennis Federation in Oregon and Washington.

The team will return home on April 4 to compete in the Men's Future event in HCM City.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

AVG’s contract is “basically legal,” says Ministry

VietNamNet Bridge – According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s draft conclusion, the 20-year contract signed between the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and AVG Group on the broadcasting copyright of Vietnam’s professional football leagues is basically legal.
TV right war getting fierce

Culture and Sports Ministry to continue inspecting football broadcasting right

The Ministry consulted the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Information-Communications on the Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) Company’s questions over the above contract. The inspection conclusion may be released on February 16.

AVG’s Chair Pham Nhat Vuong, one of the richest men on the Vietnamese stock market, said that the draft conclusion does not affect the contract between VFF and AVG. This firm was only requested to make clear some details of financial clauses in the contract. Other contents are determined to be legal. VFF reported similarly.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s inspectors, VFF is determined as the holder of broadcasting right of football tournaments held by VFF. The contract’s duration is said to be long but the Civil Law and the Trade Law do not set the limit of contract duration so the contract is legal.

VPF has not made any comment on the draft conclusion of the Ministry’s inspectors. Earlier, this company stated that it could ask the Government Inspectorate’s involvement and bring the case to court.

The dispute over the broadcasting right of professional football tournaments was kicked off when the 2012 football season began, nearly two months ago.

Dung Hoa

Vietnam to join AFC U22 Championships

VietNamNet Bridge – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on February 14 held the draw ceremony for the first Asian U22 Football Champs 2013. Vietnam is in group G, with South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Taiwan and the Philippines.

This is a new football tournament of AFC, for young football players under 22 years old. The tournament has the participation of 40 countries.

The tournament will be held each two years. The event in 2015 will be considered as the qualifier round for the Olympic Rio 2016.

The qualifier round of Asian U22 Football Champs 2013 will take place from June 23 to July 3, 2012.

Vietnam will establish its U22 team in June 2012 to prepare for the event. Vietnam is ranked as the 6th seed of Southeast Asia.

AFC’s Managing director Windsor John who is in charge of tournaments said that the new tournament is the second significant event in Asia, at national team level. AFC hopes that national football federations to invest more in young players.

Forty teams are divided in seven groups to play in a round robin to choose the best 15 teams for the finals. The 16th team will be the U22 squad of the host country of the final round (not defined yet).

The draw results:

Group A: UAE, Iraq, Oman, India, Turkmenistan, Lebanon
Group B: Arab Saudi, Syria, Pakistan, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka
Group C: Bahrain, Iran, Tajikistan, Qatar, Kuwait, Maldives
Group D: Uzbekistan, Jordan, Yemen, Bangladesh, Nepal
Group E: Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Macau, East Timor
Group F: North Korea, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Laos, Cambodia
Group G: South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Taiwan, Philippines

S. Tung

Vietnam return FIFA's top 100

Vietnam’s national football team remains the leader of Southeast Asia after climbing one notch to 100th position in the FIFA latest rankings.

The top ten countries in FIFA's ratings.

According to the FIFA February ratings, Vietnam gained 347 points, followed by Thailand (130th) with 245 points to secure second position in the region and 130th in the world, Indonesia (146th), Singapore (148th) and Malaysia (150th).

In Asia, Vietnam ranked 14th, while the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, who attended the 2010 World Cup, dropped to 15th in the continent and 106th in the FIFA table.

Spain is still leading the world, leaving behind Germany and the Netherlands.

PV

Vietnam bids to host ASIAD 2019 with “super-cheap” plan

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has entered the race to host the Asian Games 2019 (ASIAD) against Taiwan, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with an economical plan worth $120 million.

There are two sites scheduled for the construction of a regatta centre. One is in
Minh Duc, Hai Phong city, where needs up to $5-10 million of capital.
The second option is Hanoi’s West Lake (photo).

Hoang Vinh Giang, Vice Chair of the Aisan Olympic Committee cum Vice Chair and Secretary General of the Vietnam Olympic Committee, said that $120 million is the most economical funding. This figure is much lower than the initially estimated $300 million. To host the ASIAD 2010 in Guangzhou, China spent $18.7 billion.

This $120 million plan extremely restricts the construction of new sports centers. If the event takes place in Vietnam, the current sports centers of northern provinces, with Hanoi as center, will be used.

Hanoi will host major sports events, the opening and closing ceremony. Other events will be held in satellite towns in Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang, Bac Giang, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Ha Nam, Hai Phong, Hai Duong and Ha Long. These places are quite near to Hanoi and they have good sports houses.

“According to the road construction plan approved by the government, by 2019, the road system that links Hanoi with neighboring provinces will be complete, enabling convenient traveling,” explained Giang.

He said that only two works will have to built to serve track cycling and regatta competition.

A velodrome will be built inside the Hanoi Sports Complex, with 2,000 seats, at a cost of VND100 billion ($5 million).

There are two sites scheduled for the construction of a regatta centre. One is in Minh Duc, Hai Phong city, where needs up to $5-10 million of capital. The second option is Hanoi’s West Lake.

An athlete village will be built in Long Bien district. After ASIAD, it will be turned into apartments for sales. A company has proposed to invest in this project.

After ASIAD 2010 in Guangzhou (China), seven countries and territories had sent dossiers to the OCA registering to host the continent’s largest sporting event. Vietnam, Chinese Taiwan, Indonesia and the UAE are still competing to hold the event, after Hong Kong, Malaysia and India recently withdrew from the race.

In its bidding dossier, Vietnam selected Hanoi as the main venue for competitions, Indonesia has taken Surabaya city as the main venue, Chinese Taiwan has selected Kaohsiung and the UAE wants to organize the event in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The OCA will convene its plenary session in Macau in November 2012 to declare the host of ASIAD 2019.

Vietnam successfully organized the 22nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in 2003 and the 3rd Asian Indoor Games in 2009.

The Asian Games, officially known as ASIAD, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until the 1978 Games. Since the 1982 Games they have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), after the breakup of the Asian Games Federation. The Games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and are described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.

The last Asian Games was held at Guangzhou, China last November, 2010. The next Games will be held at Incheon, South Korea.

PV

Chelsea’s coaches to train Vietnamese teen football players

VietNamNet Bridge – Four coaches of the young team of Chelsea FC will be in Vietnam on February 18-19, to train 180 kids at HCM City’s Hoa Lu Stadium.

In the “Meeting with Chelsea coaches” Festival, the first of its kind in Vietnam, 180 children from schools and sports clubs in HCM City will practice technical and physical training exercises under the instruction of four coaches from Chelsa FC.

These are professional coaches who have international-level certificates and are experienced at training young football talents at the Chelsea Soccer School, where train the future generation for this FC.

This is the cooperation program between Chelsea and Samsum to raise fund and boost the passion for football and develop physical strength for Vietnamese youth.

Vietnam is the fifth country that welcomes coaches of Chelsea, after Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Korea and Japan.

The four Chelsea’s coaches include: Chris Woodward, David Paul Monk, James Lambdon and Sam Hubert.

Chelsea Football Club is an English football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four times. They have also achieved European success, winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice.

S. Tung

SPORTS IN BRIEF 17/2

PV Oil Cup prepares for kick off

The National Volleyball Championship, known as the PV Oil Cup, will kick off on March 16-23 in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh (group A) and Hai Duong (group B).

In the men's group A are Border Guard, The Cong Corps 15, Trang An Ninh Binh, Military Zone 9, Army Corps 4 and Maseco HCM City. In group B will be Sanest Khanh Hoa, Long An, Military Zone 5, Petro Viet Nam and Phu Tho Police. In women's group A, hosted by Quang Ninh, will be Vinh Long Television, VTV Binh Dien Long An, PV Oil Thai Binh, Tien Nong Thanh Hoa and Pacific Petro Construction and Installation Corporation. In group B, hosted by Lilama in Hai Duong, are Yen Khanh Air Defence, Lien Viet Post Bank, VietinBank, VietsovPetro, Phu Rieng Rubber.

The first and second placed teams in group A and B will compete for the Hung Vuong Cup at Viet Tri Competition House in Phu Tho province in celebration of the Hung Kings festival.

Da Nang to host international event

An international Paramotor competition will be held in Da Nang on May 23-27, the city administration said.

The event, which aims to boost tourism in the city, will see eight teams from Argentina, South Korea, Japan, China, Spain, England, France, and the US.

They will compete in four events - point-trial, speed, team and rescue, at the five-day event to be hosted at the Eastern Sea Park.

Viet Nam top FIFA SEA rankings

According to February's FIFA world rankings, Viet Nam's national football team continues to lead the Southeast Asian region, in 100th position overall.

Viet Nam lead Thailand in 130th place and Indonesia in 146th place.

Spain top the rankings followed by Germany and the Netherlands. In Asia, Japan fall to 30th place allowing Australia to top Asia at 22 overall.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Le Quang Liem lost Aeroflot championship

VietNamNet Bridge - On February 15, Aeroflot Open Festival 2012 ended after 9 rounds. Vietnam’s International Chess Grandmaster Le Quang Liem failed to defend his Aeroflot title. This year title was granted for Mateusz Bartel – a Polish Grandmaster.

Liem’s loss started from the 5th round against Alexander Khalifman. He continued to fail in the two rounds after that against Ray Robson of America and Daniel Alsina Leal of Spain. These losing matches made him unable to defend his champion title.

In the last two rounds, he won over Shanglei Lu of China and drew with Sethuraman of India.

With 2 wins, 4 draws, and 3 losses, finally, he ranked at 56th, losing his two year Aeroflot champion title. It is more likely that he would not be invited to participate into this year Dortmund chess tournament in Germany.

The 2012 Aeroflot champion went to the Polish International Grandmaster Mateusz Bartel (Elo 2658).

He got 4 wins and 5 draws. At the ninth round, he drew against the Russian player Anton Korobov in a decisive match. Both players won 6.5 scores but the title was awarded to Mateusz for his better performance.

A. Tuyet

VPF to lodge complaint of broadcasting right

VietNamNet Bridge – Immediately after inspectors of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) stated that the 20-year telecast deal between the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and AVG Group is legal on February 16, the Vietnam Professional Football (VPF), which manages Vietnam’s professional soccer leagues, expressed its unsatisfaction.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Kien.

Nguyen Duc Kien, VPF vice board chairman told local media on February 16 afternoon, said that VPF was frustrated at the MoCST’s conclusion, and that it would lodge an appeal to the Prime Minister again or even bring this TV rights battle to court.

Kien said that after the meeting of VPF management board today, February 17, VPF would report the case to the Prime Minister.

According to the MoCST, VFF had conducted all necessary legal procedures before signing the contract with AVG, so the latter would be fully entitled to the telecast rights over the country’s top soccer leagues from now on.

After the MoCST made the announcement, VFF has asked VPF, FCs and broadcasters to seriously respect the contract. The federation also asked related state management agencies to involve ensuring the validity of the deal.

VPF, which was set up by VFF and 28 league clubs, said that the contract had been illegitimately signed as the federation had not obtained written approval from the clubs, which it said co-owned the TV rights.

It said that the contract term was unusually long and thus would not benefit Vietnam’s soccer in the long term.

Previously, the Ministry of Justice had confirmed that the agreement was legally valid. The Prime Minister once stepped in to help settle this battle last month following an appeal from VPF, but it has lingered on ever since.

S.Tung

Tien Minh – the alone man of Vietnam’s badminton

VietNamNet Bridge – At the age of 29, Tien Minh begins to enter the difficult time to maintain his form. However, he is still an “alone man” of Vietnam’s badminton because his inferiors are still nameless in the international arena.

Tien Minh flies high at Thomas Cup

The comment by Mrs. Huynh Thi Ngoc Lien, Vice Chair of the HCM City Badminton Federation at the Olympic 2008: “Behind Tien Minh is a vast space” is once again proved for its accuracy at the Thomas & Uber Cup in Macau.

Except for Tien Minh’s two winning games, the remaining Vietnamese badminton players failed in both single and pair categories.

Withouth Tien Minh, Vietnam’s badminton will be a zero in the international arena.

Young talents like Nguyen Thi Trang, Nguyen Hoang Nam and Le Ngoc Nguyen Nhung, who are seen as Tien Minh’s successors, have been unable to prove their talent at international tournaments.

Tien Minh has successfully defended his position in the world top ten for over a year. But he is still the “alone man” of Vietnam’s badminton in the world arena.

Tien Minh’s success comes from his own efforts, since he was 18. Tien Minh did not have a coach and exercises. He got up early everyday to run and do physical exercises.

Minh’s passion and will was supported by the HCM City Badminton Federation and the federation’s Vice Chair Huynh Thi Ngoc Lien, with financial assistance and spiritual encouragement.

The matter of Vietnam’s badminton at present is not money but the shortage of experts and professional training procedures. Tien Minh is now 29, the age of pinnacle in his career but he has not had any successor who can replace him at international events.

This year, Tien Minh’s missions will be defending his position in the world top ten and represent Vietnam at the Olympic 2012.

Tien Minh will realize these missions without his Indonesian coach Asep Suharno, who left HCM City early this year.

Nguyen Tung

Related

Thứ Bảy, 10 tháng 3, 2012

Thứ Sáu, 17 tháng 2, 2012