* Up-and-coming Vietnamese chess player Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, who is on 6.5 points after eight games, is leading the under-14 girls’ division of the 2007 Asian Youth Chess Championships in the United Arab Emirates, ahead of her teammate Vo Thi Kim Phung in second place.
View of the competition
Mai Hung will win the gold medal if she draws with India’s Gagare Shalmali in her next game.
Three other Vietnamese girls have put in good performances to keep them near the top. Nguyen Ngoc Thanh Tra is coming second in the under-12s, and Vu Thi Dieu Uyen and Do Hoang Minh Tho are equal second in the under-8s.
In the boys’ category, Le Huu Thai is fourth in the under-14s, Nguyen Tan Hoang Nam is fifth in the under-8s and Tran Tuan Minh is sixth in the under-10s.
* For the first time ever, Vietnamese basketball clubs are scouting for foreign players for this year’s local league, which starts in Binh Thuan Province in September.
Among them, Ho Chi Minh City is seeking a Filipino player after the Department of Physical Training and Sport gave them the green light to look for foreign basketballers.
Joton Can Tho will try to find two Chinese players to sign up when the Mekong Delta team trains in Guangxi in September.
* Viet Nam’s Nguyen Thanh Long and Nguyen Thanh Binh will compete in the 2007 World Billiards Championships in Singapore from September 3 to 15.
