25th SEA Games, Laos

Eighteen Lao badminton players depart for Bangkok , Thailand , today to gain experience before the 25th SEA Games in December.

Lao Badminton Team Manager, Mr Somsaveng Sengsilavong, said yesterday the squad will train with Thai national badminton players as part of preparations for the games.

The team, which is also the squad for the SEA Games, will return to Laos on November 2 to start final preparations at the badminton arena at the National Sports Complex.

“These athletes were selected from 30 players after the Lao International Challenge in August,” Mr Somsaveng said.

The Lao Badminton Federation has sent its players to train and compete in Korea and Vietnam this year. Competition results were not so good because the squad lacks international experience and struggled against stronger opponents.

“We're just aiming to gain as much experience as possible at the international level. The federation has organised some local level events in the lead-up to the games,” he said.

The federation reported that the squad is only 80-90 percent ready for the games, so they will have to train extra hard upon their return home as there will then be only one month left before the games begin.

“The players have pledged to do their best and try to win medals for the nation. They also want to encourage people to come along and cheer for them during the games,” Mr Somsaveng.

One national player, Mr Yothin Latsavong, is hopeful of winning a medal at the games. He competed in the Badminton World Championship 2009 in India from August 10-16.

He said it was a good opportunity and he gained much experience from the high quality international event.

Mr Yothin also competed in the Suwon Badminton Asia Championship 2009 in Korea last March.

In the first round of the championship he beat his opponent from Uzbekistan 2-0, but lost to a Thai opponent 0-2 in the second round.

He said his experiences at the international level have boosted his confidence in his quest to win a medal when his nation hosts the games in December.



By Souknilundon Southivongnorath

Vientianetimes

(KPL) Four badminton players from the Lao national badminton team left Vientiane on 5 October to attend the YONEX-SUNRISE Vietnam Open Grand Prix 2009 which is scheduled to be held in Ho Chi Minh City from 6 to 11 October.

A farewell ceremony for the Lao team was held on 5 October at the Wattay International Airport. The team comprising four badminton players and two coaches, are Mr. Somsaveng Sengsilavong, representative of the National Badminton Association (head), Mr. Yothin Latsavong, Mr. Sathien Mouanvongsa, Mr. Phakonekham Fongmalaiseng and Mr. Vanpaseut Philavanh. They will take part in men single and double badminton competition.

Mr. Somsaveng Sengsilavong disclosed that the Lao team was well prepared physically and technically. Thus we can say that we are sure to pass to the semi final in man double badminton competition, said Mr. Somsaveng. The Open Grand Prix is organised every year and this year?s competition will be divided into five categories: men and women single, men and women double, and mixed double badminton competitions. 16 teams are invited to this year?s competition, including two teams from Laos.

In 2008 the competition was held in Hanoi, the Lao team won the 3rd prize for men double team.

Lao International Challenge 2009, a badminton competition, ended successfully last week, with 111 competitors from eight countries including Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia and Laos.

The five categories was played by knock-out system using rally point scoring system in accordance to Badminton World Federation level 4 rules and regulations.

The final results are as follow:

Men's singles final: Wong Beryno Jiann Tze (Malaysia) won Nguyen Hoang Nam (Vietnam) with the scores: 21:17, 21:16

Women's singles final: Umezu Chie (Japan) won Kametani Nozomi (Japan) with the scores: 19-21, 21-15, 21-12

Men's doubles final: Angriawan Berry, Ulinnuha Muhammad (Indonesia) won Vanhvilay Chanhda, Latsavong Yothin (Laos) with the scores: 21-16, 21-15

Women's doubles final: Akao Aki, Imabeppu Yasuyo (Japan) won Yamada Seiko, Hayashi Yuka(Japan) with the scores: 15-21, 21-11, 21-14

Mixed's doubles final: Duong Bao Duc, Thai Thi Hong Gam (Vietnam) won Ulinnuha Muhammad, Gozali Jenna, with the scores: 21-17, 21-23, 21-18

(KPL) The 25th pre-SEA Games regional badminton tournament, named the ?2009 Laos International Challenge ?, will take place from July 28 ? August 1 in the Laos capital of Vientiane.

The tournaments organisers are expecting 111 athletes from Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to take part, said the Laos National Sports Committee.

The players will compete in the men and women?s singles and doubles and the mixed doubles to be selected for the 25th SEA Games which will be held in Laos at the end of this year.

Photo: Badminton courts to be used this week during the Lao International Challenge in Vientiane.

Various 25th SEA Games organising committees will test the standard of stadiums to be used at the games this December by arranging a number of competitions in the lead-up to the event.

President of the Lao National Sports Committee and Minister to the Prime Minister's Office, Dr Phouthong Seng Akhom said yesterday that all competition stadiums and facilities would be tested before the games.

The first body to test its readiness for the games will be the Lao Badminton Federation, which will host the Lao International Challenge 2009 in Vientiane from July 28 to August 1. Other sports will hold similar competitions to test their respective facilities in the months to come.

The 20,000-seat stadium in Dongsanghin village, Xaythany district, to be used for the opening and closing ceremonies, is almost complete, with just minor touches still being added.

“All sports fields and stadiums will be tested before September, if any issues arise they will be resolved before the facilities are handed over to the relevant organising committees in September,” Dr Phouthong said.

The shooting field for the games is still under construction due to a delay in the delivery of equipment.

“The government agreed to import international standard equipment for the arena from Germany . There has been a delay in delivery but we are expecting the equipment any day now,” Dr Phouthong said.

Other indoor and outdoor courts at Chao-anouvong stadium in Anou village, Chanthabouly district, the International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre, Beungkhayong stadium and facilities at the National University of Laos are also close to completion and are waiting to be fitted out with sports equipment.

The 25th SEA Games will take place from December 9 to 18 in Vientiane, involving 390 events in 25 sports including athletics, swimming, archery, badminton, snooker and billiards, muay, cycling, football, golf, judo, karatedo, sepak takraw, shooting, tennis, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, wrestling, weightlifting, boxing, pencak silat, petanque, fin swimming, diving and shuttlecock.

By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
Vientianetimes

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

Chinese badminton coach Hu Xiaolin says the Lao national badminton team must be improved if they want to win medals at the international level.



Source: vientianetimes
Photo: vientianemai

The country's most experienced badminton player at the national and international level, Yothin Latsavong, is hopeful of winning a medal in the 25th SEA Games this December.


Source: Vientianetimes

Thailand is ready to send 19 coaches for 8 sports to help Laos in preparation for 25th SEA Games this year and to finalize all plans to help Laos before June 10.

Thailand refused to send coaches of all sports to Laos due to coaches from some ASEAN countries have already proposed to help Laos for training. This was revealed by Jaluek Ariratskaran, deputy director of Thai olympic committee. Laos requested to have coaches from thailand to help Lao athletes in 14 sports namely: Swimming, Thai boxing, International boxing, Snooker, Taekwondo, Sepak Takraw, Athletics, Cycling, Badminton, Table Tenis, Weightlifting, Shooting and Tennis. Thailand has agreed to help Laos in 3 forms: to send coaches to Laos, to train Lao staff to organize the competition, and to accept lao athletes to train and practice in Thailand, totally worth of 3.6 million Baht.

The countries that are now helping Laos for SEA Games, including boxing coach from cuba, Taewondo coach from South Korea.

Thai coach that will be sent to Laos include 3 coaches for Thai boxing, 2 for cycling, 2 for weightlifting, 1 for table tennis, 2 for shooting, 2 for snookers, 4 for Athletics and 3 for Sepak Takraw.

Lao athletes will be sent to Thailand to train in Swiming, Sepak Takraw, Cycling and other sports will be finalized on June 10 before sending the official agreement to Laos on 15 June 2009.

Laos expects to win at least 20 gold medals from the SEA games. Laos may also invite Anne Keothavong, half Lao-English tennis player, to join the 25th SEA Games.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) -- The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is willing to help Laos prepare its badminton squad for the Vientiane SEA Games from Dec 9-18.

BAM honorary secretary Ganga Rao said it was willing to train Laos shuttlers to prevent them from losing badly at the regional games.

Host Laos, a country of 6.5mil people has several badminton players, the best known being men's single player Phonepasith Phengsengcham.

Laos has never won medals in badminton since its participation in the SEA Games.

The Lao National Badminton Federation (LNBF) has engaged a Chinese coach to train its players for the Korat SEA Games, Thailand 2007 and the Vientiane SEA Games 2009.

BAM administration manager Ahmad Idris who just returned from a visit to Vientiane said LNBF has asked BAM to help in coaching.

He said BAM was also prepared to help Laos in technical areas like training umpires and linesmen.

The visit to Laos together with the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) was to check on facilities for the games.

-- BERNAMA
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newssport.php?id=410656

A member of the Lao national badminton team, Mr Phonepasith Phengsengchan, 19, is hopeful of winning a medal at the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane in December.

Mr Phonepasith won a gold medal in the male junior doubles at the Kason Bangkok Chiang Mai Badminton Tournament 2005 in Thailand , which involved six countries.

He is currently training with the national squad at the Police Indoor Courts under the guidance of a Chinese coach. The team will move to the Sports Training Centre in Sikeuth village, Naxaithong district, in August.

He said neighbouring countries such as Thailand and China have some of the best badminton players in the world and it will be difficult for him to defeat them at the games.

Mr Phonepasith won a gold medal in the men's team (three players) event at the eighth National Games in Champassak province last December, where he represented Saravan province.

His most recent success was a bronze medal in the men's singles open category at the Vientiane Governor's Cup held at the Thanong-at indoor court last week.

He is in his first year at the National University of Laos and began playing badminton when in lower secondary school.

Last Sunday, Mr Phonepasith won the KT Badminton Club's President's Cup by defeating his friend Mr Phanthavouth Sisomdeth 2-1 (15-10, 11-15, 15-11).

He has been training with the club since 2004. The club has many young players in the national team.

The club finished with the number one ranking at the eighth National Assembly President's Cup two years ago.

Former national players are also involved in training youngsters at the club.

The president's cup comprises senior male doubles, A and B level male doubles and the men's open singles.

The KT Badminton Club will host the cup on December 25 to celebrate the club's establishment.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

Seven nations from South East Asia will compete in the Lao Future Series Badminton Championships to be held at the National University of Laos in Vientiane from April 23 to 27.

Eighty-seven players will compete for the men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles titles.

Most countries are sending junior players to the championships to give them experience at the international level. Representing the host nation, the Lao Badminton Federation can enter 31 players in the championships: 10 women and 21 men.

Twenty-two players from Vietnam , 13 players from Indonesia , 10 players from Cambodia , four players from Malaysia and one player from Thailand will attend the event in Vientiane .

Lao National Sports Committee Vice President Somphou Phongsa, Lao Badminton Federation President Santiphab Phomvihane and Dao-Heuang Group General Manager Sisouphonh Sihalath attended a press conference last Thursday to announce the Lao badminton team and the start of improvements to the indoor badminton court at the university.

The federation will begin repairs to the court after the Pi Mai Lao (Lao New Year) holiday. Air conditioning, lighting and a plastic playing surface imported from China will be installed.

Primary sponsors of the event, the Dao-Heuang Group, have provided more than 300 million kip in funding. “The Vietnamese government is also providing support for the competition,” Mr Santiphab said.

“The championships will be a good test of our refereeing skills and our players will also gain experience at the international level to help them in their preparations for the 25 th SEA Games, to be held in Vientiane next year.”

“We hope our home ground advantage can help us win some medals,” he added.

A Malaysian trainer, Mr Poh Yong Siang, has been coaching the Lao national badminton team since January.

“The experience we gain from organising these championships will help us ensure the SEA Games will be a success when we host them next year,” said Mr Somphou.

The Asian Badminton Confederation has provided more than 54 million kip (US$6,000) to finance the competition. Fourteen professional personnel from the confederation will help 20 Lao staff to referee the event.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

Korean consultant to the Lao Badminton Federation, Mr Jae Jin Kim, will help the national badminton team's quest for a medal at the 25 th SEA Games in Vientiane in 2009.

Secretary General of the Lao Badminton Federation Bounleua Sinxayvoravong signed an agreement with the Chief Executive Officer of InnoMax Corporation from the Republic of Korea , Mr Jae Jin Kim, at the Lao National Sports Committee's office on Tuesday.

Mr Jae has pledged more than 200 million kip (US$25,000) to the Lao badminton team, to enable them to travel to the Republic of Korea for training in May. Accompanying the team will be a number of Lao Badminton Federation officials, who will gain valuable experience in competition organisation and management from their Korean counterparts.

At present a Malaysian badminton coach is training the Lao team in preparation for the Vientiane Badminton Open to be held at the National University of Laos in April.

“We have invited badminton teams from many countries to attend the Badminton Open, including teams from South East Asia, the Pacific and Europe ,” said the Assistant to the President of the federation, Mr Somsaveng Sengsylavong.

“However, the arena lacks special impact-absorbing flooring as we have a limited budget for the event,” he said.

Source: vientianetimes

Badminton federation seeks rising stars

The Lao Badminton Federation is working hard to raise the standard of its players to international level before they compete in next year's South East Asian (SEA) Games, on home soil.

Although the team returned home empty-handed from the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand last month, the federation hopes to celebrate a medal at the 25 th SEA Games, to be held in 2009 in Laos .

Federation official Somsaveng Sengsilavong told Vientiane Times yesterday “The standard of our players is very poor compared to other countries in Southeast Asia , so we still have a lot of work to do.”

“I think we stand little chance of winning a gold or silver medal at the 2009 SEA Games, even though we'll be playing at home, because players from countries such as Indonesia , Malaysia and Thailand top the world rankings,” Mr Somsaveng said.

“But we're not completely despondent and feel we might get a bronze medal, because the host nation has the right to set the rules of competition. We're now talking with SEA Games council members about the rules concerning the inclusion of professional players.”

“Many members have said they want only amateur players to take part. This would improve the situation for us and other countries that don't have professional players,” he added.

He also said the federation was planning to organise several activities to improve the skills of its players, focussing in particular on two major tournaments.

The first will be the National Championships from January 25-27 in Vientiane . The tournament will comprise 12 events in three categories of competition: male and female single, and doubles for players in the under-14, -16 and -19 age groups.

The National Open will take place in April and invites all the best players in the country to compete, as well as those from overseas.

The federation will use both tournaments to select the best players to enter the national training camp, to prepare for the SEA Games.

Concerning a coach, Mr Somsaveng said the federation would ask the Badminton Asia Confederation to provide the best trainer it could.

According to the Badminton Asia Confederation's official website, it is the governing body of badminton in Asia . Today, it boasts a membership of 39 countries, including Laos , and aims to remain the benchmark for world badminton for many years to come.

By Sisay Vilaysack
Vientianetimes

Photo: Miss Champa, one of the mascot for 25th Sea Games in Laos

The 25 sports that will be competed in the 25th Southeast Asian Games 2009 in Laos include:

1. Aquatics
2. Archery
3. Athletics
4. Badminton
5. Bowling
6. Boxing
7. Football/futsal
8. Golf
9. Handball
10. Judo
11. Karate-do
12. Muay
13. Petanque
14. Pencak silat
15. sepak takraw
16. Shooting
17. Shuttle cock
18. Snooker and billiards
19. Table tennis
20. Taekwondo
21. Tennis
22. Traditional boat race
23. Volleyball/beach volleyball
24. Wrestling
25. Wushu.

The 25th SEA Games is tentatively to be fallen on December 13 to 21, 2009 in Vientiane, Luang prabang and Savannakhet.