Bankrupt football clubs

According to the regulations, Vietnam team will compete with eight national tennis teams of Hong Kong (China), Syria, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Malaysia and Pacific Oceania including players from Oceanian countries except for Australia and New Zealand.

2021 World Team Tennis season will take place at Hai Dang Tennis Club in Tay Ninh Province.

According to General Secretary of Vietnam Tennis Federation Mr. Doan Thanh Tung, the Vietnam Tennis Federation will ask the World Tennis Federation to suspend the event if the pandemic situation is more complicated.

By Gia Man- Translated by Huyen Huong

The Catalans created little in one of their worst first-half displays at the Camp Nou this season but found a breakthrough early in the second when Martin Braithwaite released Messi with a classy backheel and the Argentine did the rest.

* Bernardo Silva scored once and set up another as Manchester City eased to a 2-0 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday (Feb 25), extending their winning run to 19 games in all competitions.

* Ferland Mendy grabbed a late winner to earn lacklustre Real Madrid a 1-0 win over 10-man Atalanta in Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg.

* Dele Alli and Gareth Bale staked their claims for places in Tottenham Hotspur’s first team with superbly-taken goals in a 4-0 victory over Austrian club Wolfsberg in the Europa League last 32 second leg on Wednesday.

* Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said he is still in contact with former charge Erling Braut Haaland and has not ruled out a future move for the Borussia Dortmund star. The 20-year-old striker has established himself as one of the hottest prospects in world football during goal-laden stints with Austrian side Salzburg and Dortmund.

* World number one Ash Barty has withdrawn from next week’s Qatar Open in Doha due to a left leg injury, organisers of the WTA 500 tournament said on Wednesday. Barty’s decision comes after being knocked out of the Adelaide International on Wednesday, losing 6-3 6-4 to American Danielle Collins in the second round.

* American Grant Holloway broke the world indoor 60m hurdles record that had endured since 1994 on Wednesday, finishing in 7.29 seconds to shave 0.01 seconds off the previous mark set by Briton Colin Jackson. Holloway, the 110m hurdles world champion, won the race at the Villa de Madrid by 0.22 seconds, extending his victory streak in indoor sprint hurdles to 54 races.

* Tiger Woods could return to competitive golf within a year, top orthopedic surgeons said on Wednesday, but the road back from serious leg injuries sustained in a car crash will be a long and grueling one.

* Celtic manager Neil Lennon has stepped down following a dismal campaign that has left the Scottish Premiership club 18 points behind leaders Rangers, the club said on Wednesday.

Located nine kilometres from the centre of Buon Ma Thuot city, Kontam tourist site is an attractive destination for tourists, particularly at weekends and public holidays.

Covering a total area of 17 hectares and hosting magnificent hills, mountains, waterfalls, springs, valleys, and accommodation facilities imbued with the typical culture and architecture of the E De ethnic group, Kotam welcomes more than 400,000 tourists every year.

According to Deputy Director of Dak Lak provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dang Gia Duan, the launch of the Kontam tourist site has contributed to preserving and promoting the distinct culture of the Central Highlanders while reducing poverty and generating income for local ethnic minority people.

The successful tourism model was made possible thanks to a joint effors of a group of five female entrepreneurs five years ago. They are Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Thi Hue, Nguyen Thi Phuc Minh, Vu Thi Xoan and Doan Uyen Thao, directors of five companies operating in trading, processing and exporting agricultural products, honey and mechanical equipment.

The quintet are also enthusiastic members of the Dak Lak Female Entrepreneurs club, headed by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, which has actively participated in charity activities in the locality.

They came up with the idea of building a model which can help locals reduce poverty in a sustainable way. The Kotam ecological site was born, surrounded by the E De ethnic people’s villages, including Pak, Kotam, Krong A, and Krong B.

As the owner of Quang Anh Trade Ltd. Co, one of the top companies with the highest revenues in Dak Lak, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh was appointed the Director of the Kontam Community-based Tourism Joint Stock Company.

Not long after its launch, the Kontam company had attracted 35 members from the Dak Lak Female Entrepreneursclub , who poured a large investment into the construction of the tourist site.

Traditional long stilt houses of the E De ethnic people at the Kontam tourist site (Photo: Vietnam Pictorial)

According to Ngoc Anh, from the beginning, the project team has kept in mind that the ultimate goal of the project is to protect the environment and pristine beauty of the natural landscape while honouring the cultural identity of the Central Highlanders.

Therefore, the traditional long stilt houses of the E De ethnic people were constructed at the site and all staff members at the site wear an E De ethnic brocade uniform.

Thanks to its amazing scenery and landscapes, Kotam quickly became an alluring tourist complex for visitors from across the country.

Nguyen Thi Hue, a member of the Board of Directors of Kotam Community-based Tourism Joint Stock Company, said that the tourist site has the huge advantage of food self-sufficiency, providing tourists with a fresh and clean source of vegetables, meat, and fruit.

Visitors to the site can taste the delicious indigenous dishes of the Central Highlanders, including papaya flowers cooked with fish, grilled snakehead fish, pork grilled in bamboo tubes, and chicken salad with banana flowers.

When the COVID-19 pandemic saw complicated developments in the province, Kotam staff members donated quintals of vegetables to those working at the front lines against the pandemic.

In an effort to welcome back vacationers in the post-COVID-19 period, the tourist site has coordinated with training facilities on tourism services, hotels and restaurants to improve the skills of staff members.

Promotional activities have also been launched to further advertise the site to travel agencies and tourist companies.

Built with both enthusiasm and love for the homeland of the five female entrepreneurs, the Kotam tourist site has contributed to upholding traditional culture as well as boosting socio-economic development in Dak Lak province.

The matches will be played at the Hai Dang Tennis Club from June 16 to 19, according to the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The Vietnamese team, ranked 71st in the world, will play Hong Kong (68th), Syria (76th), Sri Lanka (78th), Kuwait (110th), Qatar (111th), Jordan (120th), Pacific Oceania (122nd) and Malaysia (127th).

The fixture list has yet to be announced.

All foreign teams will be quarantined for 14 days on arrival.

Vietnamese coach Truong Quang Vu will pick four players for the tournament in May.

Vietnam have been in Group III since 2003. After topping it in 2018, they failed to get promotion to World Group II after losing 4-0 to Morocco in the play-offs last March.

With home advantage, Vietnam again hope to reach the play-offs next year.

* Leicester City, who are behind second-placed United in the Premier League only on goal difference, were knocked out of the Europa League on February 25 after sliding to a 2-0 loss at home to Czech champions Slavia Prague.

* Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck a late winner as Arsenal dug deep to beat Benfica 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate to reach the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday (Feb 25).

* AC Milan progressed to the last 16 of the Europa League on away goals after struggling to a 1-1 draw at home to Red Star Belgrade on Thursday, with the visitors playing the final 20 minutes with 10 men as the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate.

* Gonzalo López Lauch is helping bring the late Diego Maradona back to life, one mosaic tile at a time. The visual artist, part of a group called Comando Maradona, unveiled on Thursday (Feb 25) a colorful mural of the Argentine player and legend who died on Nov 25 last year, sparking an outpouring of grief from Buenos Aires to Naples, Italy.

* Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes are over and the main target now is to win the Champions League, forward Sadio Mane said. Liverpool ripped up the record books last season on the way to their first English top-flight title in 30 years, but a season marred by injuries and poor form has left the club sixth and trailing leaders Manchester City by 19 points.

* World number two Rafa Nadal has withdrawn from next week’s Rotterdam Open due to a back injury, organisers of the ATP 500 event said on Thursday. The 20-time Grand Slam winner has been struggling with a back issue since the build-up to the Australian Open and was forced to skip Spain’s ATP Cup ties earlier this month.

* CF Montreal’s plan for Thierry Henry to lead a turnaround in the MLS club’s fortunes ended abruptly on Thursday as the former French international stepped down as head coach after one season due to family issues.

* Italian champions Juventus on Thursday (Feb 25) reported losses of 113.7 million euros (US$139 million) for the first half of the current financial year, more than double the deficit for the same period the previous season largely due to the coronavirus pandemic. The latest figures compare to losses of 50.3 million euros in the first half of the club’s 2019/20 financial year, which runs from July 1 to June 30.

* The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) elected former England captain Charlotte Edwards as their first female president on Thursday. Edwards, 41, led England to World Cup success in 2009 and scored 10,000 runs across all formats in a playing career spanning two decades.

Vietnamese athletics’ top-spot ambition for the upcoming regional Games is posed with significant challenges as, throughout 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hindered Vietnamese athletes from participating in any overseas training courses as well as international competitions. Entering 2021, amidst the complicated evolution of the disease, international track and field tournaments have remained halted without confirmed dates for return, while it remains unknown when the sending of athletes for overseas training will resume. On mass media, Vietnam’s athletics arch-rivals Thailand have also constantly affirmed their determination to reclaim the lost position. Given that fact, the host country of the 31 ^st SEA Games will have to exert much greater efforts if they wish to defend their regional reign.

Last year, as a result of the two COVID-19 outbreaks, Vietnamese athletics only managed to organise two official domestic tournaments, the Speed Cup (Ho Chi Minh City, June) and the National Championships (Hanoi, November). The inability to train and compete overseas significantly affected the performance of athletes. In previous years, most of the national teams chose to train abroad to improve their profession and performance. In fact, practising in the countries with advanced sport levels brings athletes greater excitement and helps them further improve themselves in terms of both psychology and fitness compared to training at home. By engaging in overseas training camps and competitions, Vietnamese athletes will be able to break their limits to reach new heights. Meanwhile, at the present time, due to the pandemic, athletes in most of the events in which Vietnam is capable of securing a Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 berth have yet to achieve the performance indicators as expected. For example, Vietnam currently ranks 17 ^th in the world regarding the 4x400m relay event and stands a chance to make the top 16 teams qualifying for the 2020 Olympics if international performance is improved in 2021. Even so, athletics is not a key sport of Vietnam in the Olympic arena and the real focus of the track and field department in 2021 is on the 31 ^st SEA Games.

Nguyen Thi Oanh breaks the 17-year-old national record in the women’s 10,000m run event at the 2020 National Athletics Championships.

Looking towards the regional Games later this year, Vietnam athletics is completely confident in realising the goal of defending its reign thanks to a team of prominent athletes, such as Le Tu Chinh, who smashed her way to five gold medals at the 2020 National Championships – with two individual titles in the 100m and 200m dash and three team gold medals in the women’s 4x100m, women’s 4x200m and mixed 4x400m disciplines, recording an especially notable time of 11.43 seconds in the 100m distance. Tu Chinh took gold in this event at the 30 ^th SEA Games with 11.54 seconds, 0.14 seconds far from her personal best (11.40 seconds). Another SEA Games 2019 champion, Nguyen Thi Oanh, also scored four gold medals at the National Championships last year and established a new national record in the women’s 10,000m run with a time of 34:08.54, breaking the 17-year-old record set by Doan Nu Truc Van in 2003 (34:48.28). In the men’s medium-distance categories, Duong Van Thai, who won eight SEA Games gold medals, was surprisingly surpassed by 20-year-old Tran Van Dang. Dang’s performance will surely create a big motivation for Duong Van Thai to exert greater efforts at the upcoming 31 ^st SEA Games.

According to experts, in order to top the 31 ^st SEA Games track and field medal tally, Vietnamese athletes will need to secure 17-19 gold medals in a total of 47 events. In the previous Games, the Vietnamese athletics team won 16 golds, four clear of Thailand and five more than that of the Philippines. Thanks to its effective control of COVID-19, Vietnamese athletics is making better preparations for this year’s Games compared to many other countries in the region which are being raged by the pandemic. From the beginning of 2021, coaches and athletes will enjoy a diet costing VND320,000 each per day during their training time at the national team level, which will increase to VND480,000 for a maximum of 90 days prior to official competition. With thorough preparations in the past year as well as in the coming time, athletics and football are the two departments which have been assigned with the biggest tasks and are the most likely to finalise the goal of winning the overall championship title at the 31 ^st SEA Games later this year.