25th SEA Games, Laos

Brewery continues to back Lao sport

The Lao Brewery Company, producer of Beerlao, announced the four major sports it intends to sponsor at the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane this December.

It will support the four sports in which it feels Laos has the best medal hopes: football, muay lao, pétanque and taekwondo.

The company made the announcement at a press conference on April 10.

Company Managing Director Kissana Vongsay said all the staff at the company were proud to work for a company which was a major sponsor of the games and were fully supportive of Lao athletes.

“The company has contributed almost 20 billion kip towards games preparation, and we believe these funds will inspire all Lao people around the country to be of one heart, united in cheering on our athletes to glory at the games,” Mr Kissana said.

Also present at the announcement was Muay Lao Federation Secretary Phon Keochomsy. He said muay was a popular martial art in many countries of the world, and had been part of the SEA Games since 2004.

Laos achieved one gold and three silver medals at the games in the Philippines , and went on to secure one gold, three silver and four bronze medals at the last SEA Games, which were held in Thailand .



“This year Laos hosts the games so we are practising furiously to prepare our kick-boxers. We want to win as many medals as we can. We believe we can win at least four gold medals in December,” Mr Phon said.

For his part, Lao Football Federation President Phouvanh Vongsouthi said although the Lao football team's form had been less than encouraging of late, this time the Lao football team will fight to reach the semi-finals of the SEA Games.

“Our footballers are under 23 years old. Compared with other footballing nations in the region Lao football is still not strong enough, but I believe our team will do their best for the Lao people.”

Mr Phouvanh said the players were determined to improve their results and rise to the challenge as they will be on home soil. They were practising diligently both at home and abroad and the team is currently training in Vietnam .

Players of two other sports, pétanque and taekondo, also hold out hopes of medals for Laos .

A new Beerlao television commercial featuring leading muay lao kick-boxers was launched following the announcement.

By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
Vientianetimes

Local practitioners and teachers of aikido, judo and karate-do sports will have a second venue in which to practise their discipline next year.

A practice and performance hall (dojo) is being built at the Physical Education Teacher Training School (PETTS) at Thongpong village in Sikhottabong district.

The first venue for such sports was the Lao-Japan Budo Centre at Anou village, Chanthabouly district, currently in the second phase of construction.

The PETTS construction project begins from this month and will conclude in May, at a cost of about 758 million kip (US$88,495), which has been granted as aid from the Japanese government.

This school is the only one in the country focused solely on training physical education teachers, and has suffered from a shortage of proper facilities and equipment.

It is hoped that this project will help to rectify the situation.

A signing ceremony for the construction project was held in Vientiane on Wednesday, attended by PETTS Director, Mr Intong Leusinsay, and Japanese Ambassador to Laos , Mr Masaaki Miyashita.

Mr Miyashita said when it was built the facility would prove an important tool for trainee teachers' education.

He said that many Lao people were gaining more interest in a wide range of sports as a direct result of the upcoming 25th SEA Games to be held in Vientiane in December.

However, while an increasing number of Lao people were interested in physical pursuits, there was a general lack of trained educators in the field of physical education and training in the country, he said.

Mr Intong thanked the Japanese government and others cooperating and assisting PETTS development.

He said the indoor dojo at the teacher training school would be suitable for training and competition events in judo, karate-do and aikido and provide another alternative for martial artists.

The Japanese government provided about 19 billion kip (201,600,000 million yen) for the second phase of construction of the Lao-Japan Budo Centre.

The Lao SEA Games Organising Committee will hold the judo and karate-do events at the Vientiane-based centre.

The funds were used to build the Budo Centre, install electricity, water and air conditioning and provide equipment and clothing for judo and karatedo players.

In the first phase of construction, the Japanese government provided grant aid of about 37 billion kip (400 million yen) last December.

Construction of the Budo Centre began on December 10 last year, and is due for completion in October this year. It is being built by a consortium of the Japan-based Kanto Construction Co. Ltd and Sanpo International Corporation.

Judo events in the 25th SEA Games will comprise eight men's categories (55kg, 60kg, 66kg, 73kg, 81kg, 90kg, 100kg and over 100kg), while women are competing in the 45, 48, 52, 57, 63, 70, 78 and over 78kg categories.

Karatedo events will consist of male combatants in seven categories (55kg, 60kg, 65kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg) and women fighters in four (48, 53, 60 and over 60kg).

At the 24th SEA Games in Thailand last year, the Lao judo team took home two gold, one silver and three bronze medals, while the karate-do team won a bronze.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

ANZ Bank supports Lao taekwondo team


Mr Vilay Douangmany (left) and Mr Kerrod Thomas shake hands at the Lao National Sports Committee office.

Seven male and five female Lao taekwondo fighters will be aiming to win at least two gold medals at the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane next year.

The ANZ Vientiane Commercial Bank will provide funding to assist the Lao taekwondo team from this December up until the SEA Games.

The squad has been training at the national camp in Vientiane under the instruction of Mr Kim, a South Korean taekwondo trainer, since the middle of this year.

The Lao Taekwondo Federation held a signing ceremony with federation President, Mr Vilay Douangmany, and ANZ Vientiane Manager Director, Mr Kerrod Thomas, at the Lao National Sports Committee office yesterday. The event was attended by committee officials and Lao taekwondo fighters.

Mr Vilay thanked the bank for sponsoring the taekwondo team and expressed confidence the team would win gold medals at the games.

Mr Kerrod said taekwondo was popular in Laos and many young people were becoming interested in the sport after Lao fighters won medals in international events last year.

The federation will select the best fighters from the eighth National Games to be held in Champassak province in December to participate in the SEA Games.

The national squad will train in South Korea early next year.

The taekwondo event at the SEA Games will have eight men's categories (54kg and 58-84kg) and eight women's categories (47kg and 51-72kg).

The federation's best male fighter is Mr Savathvilay Phimmasone, who won a bronze medal in the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Zhengzhou district, China , last May.

At the 24th SEA Games in Thailand last December, the Lao national team won one silver medal and five bronze medals.

Vientianetimes

Yuuwakai Association helps Lao Karatedo Federation to build new training center



(KPL) The Yuuwakai Association of Japan will provide its grant aid worth about 10 million yen to build the Karatedo training center in Laos.
This was a part of contribution from Yuuwakai Association to improve the standards of Lao Karatedo fighters.

The statement was released during the courtesy visit to Mr. Vilayvong Boudakham, Vice Secretary General of Lao Central Youth Union of Yuuwakai Association delegation led by its president Watanabe Shinichi.

The Yuuwakai association delegation arrived Vientiane on 4 August for a two day working visit to Laos.

The delegation was warmly welcomed by Mr. Phongsavat Bouphan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs who is also honorary president of Lao Karatedo federation.
20% of grant aid will be used to construct the first phase of office and training center, which will begin in September, while the remainder will be use to fund the second and third phases of construction.

Source: kpl