25th SEA Games

The Lao national karatedo team is hopeful of success at the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane this December after winning a bronze medal in the last games in Thailand in 2007.

Marketing Manager of Lao Asia Pacific Breweries, Mr Kelvin Tan, presented US$10,000 to Vice President of the Lao Karatedo Federation, Dr Sonethanou Thammavong, in Vientiane on Tuesday.

Mr Tan said the funding would go towards assisting karatedo athletes prepare for the games.

Dr Sonethanou said the funding would support the team undertake training and purchase some equipment.

The squad has been training for the games since February, and consists of 14 men and 12 women in various weight divisions.

Later this month the team will enter a training camp at the National Sports Training Centre.

The federation will send some fighters to train in Hanoi , Vietnam from September to November.

They will replace 14 athletes who have been training in Hanoi since April.

The men in the national squad will compete in the 55, 60 to 80kg weight categories at the games, and women in the 47, 53 to over 60kg divisions.

The team will also compete in the dancing event, which consists of singles and team categories, as well as in the fighting event.

Two international karatedo tournaments will be held in Phuket province, Thailand in August in order to test the squad's skills before the games.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

In the August 18th-19th ,Lao Football Federation (LFF) will orazine the warm-up matches with the papular clubs from Vietnam and Thailand at the provicial stadium of Champasak province, Southern Laos ,according to Mr Viengsavan Siengphachanh the football game organizing Manager reports the warm up matches ,Laos National football team will vesus three teams from vietnam and Thailand. vietnam will send the Hong an Ya Lai club and thailand will send RATHSANAVY LAYONG and TTM SAMODSAKHONE clubs to praticipate the game. as for Lao team now is training at the National traning center (syketh) ,Coach saysana Savathdee and Bounlap are resbonsible for training . Laos team has jointed the training at the Hong An Ya lai clubs of vietnam before returing to Syketh.

U23 squads have been selected the best players throughout the country and every boys are concentrate on training and enthusiasm,the target of training are to improve the enegy of players, strongness is very important and improve to shooting,especially the accuracy on goal according to a coach Saysana Savatdee told vientianmai , he also adds that the quality of our football at the 25th seagames will be better than before and he asks for all lao football fans to cheer up and to encourage the boys to success and the boys may make a new history of Laos football.

(KPL) Students in Vientiane Capital in this new academic year 2009-2010 started classes earlier this year thanks to the upcoming 25th SEA Games, scheduled at this year end.

The irregular academic year was opened early instead of the regular academic year, started September every year due to the 25th SEA Games, according to the Head of Vientiane Education Sector, Mr Chandy Phommaboud. The Vientiane academic year opened schools on 1 July, was implemented by Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavane痴 notice.

哲ew academic year came earlier than as unusual because Laos would organize the 25th SEA Games, from 9-25 December, to avoid traffic jam during the SEA Games and over 3,000 students will perform at the opening and closing ceremonies of SAE Games,・the notice wrote.

The first examination of academic year would be carried out at the end of October and then the classes will close between November and December, as annual holiday for last academic, Mr Chansy said.

While kindergartens keep on conducting as usual.

(KPL) Twelve Lao national boxers, five of them women boxers would be taking part in the Third Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi, Vietnam from 30 October to 9 November and this is part of the preparation for the SEA Games.

The General Secretary of Lao National Boxing Federation, Mr Phankeo Chomsy said that it should be able to bag gold medals from this competition and create boxing history in Laos.

“We do believe that our fighters will bring fame to our country because all of them had trained in the Training Centre for a long time and and they are ready for this event,” he said.
The First Asian Indoor Games was held at Phuket, Thailand. Laos sent five boxers and they bagged a silver medal and four bronze medals.The second, held in Macao, China and Laos’ three boxers took three bronze medals.

According to a sport news from vovnews, Men's U19 South East Asia Football Championships will be held in HCM city from August 5-15, 2009.

The championships, scheduled for HCM City in Vietnam, will see the participation of 12 teams divided into 3 groups.

Vietnam is in group A with Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Group B comprises Cambodia, Australia, Laos and Thailand, while Indonesia, Myanmar, East Timor and Brunei are in group C.

The teams will play in a round robin format with three group winners along with the best group runner-up qualifying for the semi finals.

This football championship will be another warm up for the up-coming 25th SEA Games in Vientiane, Laos the end of this year.

Another International Badminton Championship under the title: "Laos International challenge 2009" will be held in the capital city of Laos, Vientiane, from 28th July to 1st August 2009. In this event, 8 countries will take part in the Lao Future Series, none of the players participating there are ranked among the top 20 in the world.


photo: Mr Bounleua Sinxayvoravong, Lao BF Secretary General and Mr Ben, Referee

It should be noted that the Laos Badminton Federation is using this championship as a preparatory event for the more prestigious South East Asia Games which it hosts next year. The SEA Games will attract some of the best players of the sport, among them the highly ranked stars from Indonesia and Malaysia. The LAO badminton federation hopes to use this Future Series to help familiarize and train technical officials who would be assisting to officiate during the SEA Games.

With a follow-up event called the Challenger set for 2009, there is hope that badminton can continue to flourish in the area and that the event is even bigger next year. With a prize fund of US $15,000 on offer, there is every chance that a better class of player will be looking to take part in the event.

Source: Badmintoasia

The tennis courts to be use for the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane, Laos, is now 90% completed, reported the Tennis federation of ASEAN.

Mr. Chaipak Siriwat, vice president Olympic Committee of Thailand, the president of Tennis Federation of ASEAN, led the Board of ASEAN Tennis Federation to see the progress of the construction of the main tennis court, with the capacity of 2,000 people, and other 6 tennis courts near by.

Laos confirms that the construction work is now 90% ready and by the time of the SEA Games during 9-18 December, the courts must be ready in advanced and with no problems. The remained work include the decoration of the court and the changing room.

The Lao SEA Games Organising Committee has said construction of an indoor stadium in Vientiane where kick-boxing bouts will be staged is now 52 percent complete.

Kick-boxing events will be run by the Muay Lao Federation.

A representative of Beungkhayong Construction, Mr Boonkuer Boonniem, said construction was difficult during the rainy season.

He expected the stadium to be finished in October and said the Lao National Sports Committee (LNSC) would inspect the facility in November, before the SEA Games take place from December 9-18.

Electricity will be installed in the stadium in September. Seating for 1,500 people, a meeting room, and rooms for male and female contestants would also be part of the building.

The new stadium is close to the existing, smaller stadium, which will be renovated to bring it up to the standard of the new facility. Both buildings are located in Beungkhayong village, Sisattanak district.

The old stadium will be painted and have a new electrical system installed before being finished in September. It will be used for shuttlecock events during the SEA Games.

The Thai government is funding the construction of the new stadium and is helping to renovate the existing stadium, at a cost of more than 20 billion kip (85 million baht).

Work began in February, with 50 Lao and 60 Thai labourers working on both buildings.

Last year, the LNSC hosted the Vientiane Muay Lao Competition each month at the old indoor stadium, owned by the Vientiane Sports Department. The Lao Volleyball Federation also held events there.

LNSC Facility Construction Division Chief, Mr Phaiboun Chanthamaly, said LNSC and Sports Department officials would work from the new stadium after the close of the SEA Games .


By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong

(KPL) Fifteen Lao boxing referees who would be refereeing the boxing matches of the 25th SEA Games attended training sessions to raise their refereeing skills to international standard.

National Boxing Federation of Laos organized such sessions at National Sports Training Centre (located in Sikeut) last week.

Mr Anan Onchanh, President of the National Amateur Boxing Referees Association of Thailand carried out the training.

Back in the Lao history, many Lao athletes had shown their excellent performances in many international events: Ms. Soukpavanh Piathep, the first heroin from Laos won the gold medal from the World Table Tenis Championship in Mexico, Mr. Vongkot Jinda, the Lao boxer who won the bronze medal in Asian Games, Beijing, and other athletes who won many madals in the SEA Games and other international sport events.

Ms. Soukpavan Piathep revealed that in 1976, she was 16, and she was selected to be the representative from Laos to join the Table tennis championship in Mexico. There were 50 countries participated in this event, and she beat the player from Egypt to win the gold medal for Laos for the first time.

After coming back to Laos, she was warmly welcomed from all Lao and was awarded the medal from the late Lao president Soupanouvong.

Soukpavan is now 49, but she looks very healthy, due to her continuous playing sport, especially table tennis. Up to now, no table tennis player from Laos who yet stand out in the international events.

Ms. Soupavan encourages all Lao table tennis players to try their best in practicing, in order to win some medals for Laos during the upcoming 25th SEA Games that will be held in our own soils the end of this year.

Translated from Vientianemai newspaper

(KPL) To usher in the 25th SEA Games and the celebration of the 450th Anniversary of the foundation of Vientiane, the Vice-Mayor of Vientiane, Mr Somvandy Nathavong told the media that the Vientiane Office would be implementing a policy of six objectives to make Vientiane a pleasant city.

The six items are cleanliness, security, greening, good lighting, charm and civilility. Touching on cleanliness, he said his people had been going round the city to tell the local residents to cooperate with one another to maintain cleanliness and to ensure safety.

The officials of the city of Vientiane, he added had been looking at the work of Hanoi city in maintenance of cleanliness and they are applying some of the lessons that they have learnt from their Vietnamese counterparts.

Mr Somvandy said, “We are planning to survey and inspect the vehicles that enter the city and based on a digestion of the data we will decide on allowing specific types of vehicles to enter the city and those that can only operate in the outskirts.”.
“We will also carry out a population survey, ask the local authorities to form voluntary labour groups to clean their areas on Saturdays and to plant trees on the two sides of the roads,” he added.

Touching on security he said, “We are mobilising the army of every village to maintain security in and around the town.”

But, the task of cleaning the road, he said is the responsibility of the Vientiane Urban Development Administration Authority (VUDAA)”.

For the Buengkhayong Authority, Ms Kongkham said, “We will do as much as we can. We will encourage people to clean around their houses, especially those living alongside main roads, because the task of road cleaning isn’t the sole responsibility of the Vientiane Urban Development and Administration Authority alone”.

She also said village authorities would continue to organise special cleaning days to encourage residents to get into the habit of caring for their community.

The Democratic People's Republic (D.P.R.) of Korea have booked their place in the semi-finals of the football competition with a last gasp goal to beat Lao People's Democratic Republic (P.D.R.) 4-2.

It was a scene right out of the movie scripts. Ironically, as "Game of Their Lives", a movie featuring the D.P.R. of Korea football team's fairytale run in the 1966 World Cup, was premiering in Singapore, one featuring their Under-14 side in the 1st Asian Youth Games (AYG) Singapore 2009 was also taking place at Temasek Polytechnic.

Group B's final match between D.P.R. of Korea and Lao P.D.R. was not for the faint hearted, as the lead changed hands three times throughout the match. Even then, it was the injury time goal that saw D.P.R. of Korea oust Saudi Arabia to take second spot in Group B. (refer to group table below)

D.P.R. of Korea needed to make up the difference of three points and the goal difference of six goals to overtake Saudi Arabia for second spot in Group B.

They seemed well on the way to fulfilling the goal tally needed in on 17 minutes when Jo Sol Song poked home a Ro Kwang Yong freekick that crashed off the crossbar.

But the Laotian boys were up for the game and struck back three minutes later. Striker Lembo Saysana intercepted a clearance and made a penetrating run past the Korean defence. Clear on goal, he sent in a low driving shot that left Korean goalkeeper Kwon Kum Chol with no chance.

Emboldened by the equalizer, Lao P.D.R. went in search of another goal. Keomoukda Sisanon stood over a freekick right outside the D.P.R. of Korea penalty box and curled in a powerful shot to give his side a surprise 2-1 lead.



It looked as if it was not meant to be for D.P.R. of Korea. Right after the restart, Ro Kwang Yong managed to find Laotian goalkeeper Soukthavy Soundala one-on-one, but his shot struck the left goalpost. Strike partner Jo Kwang Mong was first to the rebound but his shot bounced off the other goalpost.

Jo Jol Song came through for his side yet again in the 45th minute. He chased down a high through ball behind the Laotian defense and passed the ball across onrushing goalkeeper Soukthavy Soundala to team mate Ri Jong Hyok. Ri made no mistake from point blank range to equalise for D.P.R. of Korea.



The Korean side could smell the winning goal coming and increased the pressure on Lao P.D.R.'s defence. Ri Jong Hyok managed to infiltrate the Laotian defence to give his side the lead with a goal similar to Lao P.D.R.'s first.

News filtered through in the 70th minute that the Republic of Korea was leading 5-0, meaning that D.P.R. of Korea needed just one more goal to go through, and the crowd began to urge the Korean boys on.

It was all-out attack for D.P.R. of Korea, but Lao P.D.R.'s substitute goalkeeper Southakone Thammada was on hand to stop several point blank shots.

In the second minute of stoppage time, it looked as if it was a case of 'so near, yet so far' for the Koreans, but enter Jo Jol Song. Ro Kwang Yong's powerful shot was saved by Southakone Thammada, and Jo was quickest to the parried ball, smashing home a dramatic goal to bag his second of the day, and give his side the required two-goal lead.



Alex Tran, manager of the Lao P.D.R. team, was happy for his boys: "I told them to go play their game today. They were too concerned about the opponents' size before. I told them to just enjoy themselves, the result doesn't matter, and they did play well."

Top goal scorer for the Laotian side Lembo Saysana was happy despite not making it to the semi-finals: "I am very happy; it is my first experience in such a big tournament. It has been a memorable time in Singapore. I wish I don't need to go back, but I have to."

D.P.R. of Korea coach was glad to qualify for the next stage. He said: "We were pressured coming into this game. We knew we had to make six goals and win to at least have a chance. The boys were not told the result of the other match, they were told to just give their best, and luckily for us, we made it through."

He added: "I don't think we played our best today, they (Lao P.D.R.) scored two goals against us. We must improve on that when we play in the semi-finals."

D.P.R. of Korea hero Jo Jol Song said happily: " I am happy for the goal, and more because it is important to the team, who worked hard in this tournament."



GROUP B
Country P W D L F A GD PTS
Republic of Korea 3 3 0 0 16 1 15 9
D.P.R. of Korea 3 1 1 1 6 7 -1 4
Saudi Arabia 3 1 1 1 6 8 -2 4
Lao P.D.R. 3 0 0 3 4 16 -12 0

Photo: Ms Thibphakone Southammavong trains at the Lao Table Tennis Federation club.

The Lao table tennis team will struggle to win medals at the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane this December due to a lack of training, according to a senior official.

Secretary General of the Lao Table Tennis Federation, Mrs Somchay Vongsa, said if the national players trained regularly and competed in more international tournaments, they may have a chance of winning medals at the SEA Games in 2011.

The team has been training at the federation's club since last August.

Sixteen members of the team are training in Vientiane , while a further three are training in Bangkok , Thailand .

The squad is being guided by coaches from China , Thailand and Laos in the lead-up to the games.

Mrs Vongsa said the Lao government plans to support the federation by spending more than US$100,000 on six tables for training and a further six tables for competition, as well as some other international standard equipment from Sweden.

The federation will host the table tennis event at the National University of Laos.

The younger members of the Lao team gained some experience after competing in the 15th South East Asia Junior Championships in Bangkok , Thailand , on June 23.

Other players competed in the All Thailand table tennis tournament from June 27-29, which consisted of U-12 and open divisions.

The All Thailand event is held five times a year. The federation will send five men and five women to compete at other events in July and August.

Mrs Vongsa said the Lao team will gain good experience from the tournament, which attracts the best players in Thailand .

The federation also plans to send national players to other international tournaments in neighbouring countries before the games begin, Mrs Vongsa said.

Next year, the federation will encourage students at lower and upper secondary schools in Vientiane to take up table tennis in an effort to boost national stocks of talented players.

One member of the national team, Ms Thibphakone Southammavong, is a 21-year-old student at the Faculty of Engineering of the National University of Laos.

Ms Thibphakone said the Singaporean, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian teams were very strong and included some of the best players in the world.

She said while the Lao squad may have a chance of winning a medal in the team event (three players) at the SEA Games, they will struggle for success in singles and doubles events.

Ms Thibphakone began playing table tennis in primary school and has gone on to represent her country several times. She won three gold medals in the doubles, team and mixed doubles events at the eighth National Games in Champassak province last December.

She was unsuccessful in medal attempts at the 22nd SEA Games in Vietnam in 2003 and the 24th SEA Games in Thailand in 2007, which she attributed to nerves and lack of experience at the international level.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

(KPL) The members of National Assembly visited the sites of the opening and closing ceremonies of SEA Games in Saythany District (KM 16) to monitor the progress of the construction work, yesterday.

The entourage was led by the Head of National Assembly Office, Mr Thongtern Sayasen and they were welcomed by the Vice-President of National Sports-Gymnastic Committee, Mr Somphou Phongsa and Manager of the SEA Games Construction Project, Mr Khiengkham Phoutchanthavongsa.

Mr Khiengkham showed the guests the sites for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 25th SEA Games, to be held on 9 and 18 December.

The national lawmakers also visited the Games Village, located in the vicinity of the National University of Laos.

He said the sports complex will have a high-quality electrical system in place before the games begin.

Mr Somphou Phongsa, said the football stadium and indoor courts are of high standard and have been surfaced with the finest imported materials.

At the same day, the Lao National Sports Committees and National Assembly members also visited athletes’ accommodation at the National University of Laos.

The committee and national sports federations will inspect the electrical system after work to bring it up to international standards is complete. Work began on the system in April this year.

The sports complex consists of the National Football Stadium, tennis courts, archery fields, swimming pool, shooting fields and indoor courts which will host the volleyball and badminton events.

The construction is almost complete in 100 percent just only some of decorating outside and installing the electricity system then it will be perfect stadium, which the stadium capacity contain 20.000 seats.