Tennis 

NINH BÌNH — Lê Thảo Hân took an easy win, while Trần Minh Quân struggled in the first matches of the National Tennis Championships, which opened in Ninh Bình Province on September 16.

Hân of the Army Team took just 58 minutes to beat Bùi Khánh Ly of Vĩnh Phúc Province 6-2, 6-0 in the women's singles.

Meanwhile many supporters had believed that Quân, from Đà Nẵng, wouldn't meet any kind of challenge from Lê Gia Bảo of Thành Công Club, after a quick 6-2 win in the first set of the men's singles. However, Bảo was a totally different player in the second set and put up tough fight. Quân had no chance to end the game early as expected and Bảo successfully saved five match points before his forehand hit the net, losing 4-6.

In other matches, Tạ Phương Nam of Hà Nội lost 1-6, 1-6 to Trịnh Vũ Khang from Thái Nguyên, No 11 seed Phạm Tuấn Long of Bắc Ninh beat Alan Tai Daltry of Hà Nội 6-0, 6-0 and No 14 Trần Anh Tú was defeated 1-6, 3-6 by Nguyên Trung Khang in an all-Becamex of Bình Dương match.

Earlier, the Việt Nam Tennis Federation (VTF) officially opened the annual tournament at Ninh Bình's Sports Training Centre, featuring nearly 120 players from 17 cities and provinces nationwide.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Director of Ninh Bình's Culture and Sports Department Nguyễn Mạnh Cường said: "This championship is the highest level of competition in the national system, gathering the strongest and talented players.

"They will be quality source for the national team for international tournaments in the future." 

At the same time, the VTF and organising committee launched a donation programme to support people hurt in the devastating impact of Typhoon Yagi.

Initial donations amounted to VNĐ120 million, but the fund is expected to increase through the championship. 

The final matches of five categories of men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles are scheduled for September 22. VNS