All-Vietnam Schools Cup 2013

March 21, 2013

VAS Junior Boys Captain, Do Le Anh Quoc receives the All-Vietnam Junior Boys Cup from the Irish Ambassador Damien Cole and Jim Kiernan
The finals of the 4th edition of the Education in Ireland All Vietnam Schools Cup in Gaelic Football were hosted by VAS at the VAS Sportsground, My Dinh, Hanoi on 16 March, 2013. The tournament was organised by the Viet Celts Gaelic Football Club. There were three finals up for decision with Vietnam Australia School (VAS) and Hanoi International School (HIS) squaring off in all of them. VAS is an all Vietnamese school and HIS is a school for international students. The new O'Neill's match-balls from Dublin GAA were used in the competition. There were 70 players in total and the games were 9-a-side.

Final Junior Boys:

VAS Juniors 8.7 (31pts)
HIS Juniors 4.7 (19pts)

Whilst HIS Juniors came back strongly in the second half in this high scoring match, VAS Juniors had torn the defending champions apart in the first half. It established a platform upon which VAS were to wrest back possession of this cup for the first time since 2011. Do Le Anh Quoc was on fire in attack. Nguyen Thanh Dat and Nguyen The Hung dominated midfield with skillful play. Right back, Nguyen Trong Tan and the fantastic full back, Nguyen Quang Anh held the line against the HIS fight back in the second half. Best for HIS was the talented, Daniel Papendieck from Germany.

VAS Juniors : Bach Xuan Bao Nhan, Nguyen Trong Tan, Nguyen Quang Anh, Tran Viet Tien, Nguyen The Duong, Nguyen The Hung, Nguyen Thanh Dat, Do Le Anh Quoc (Capt) , Nguyen Van Manh, Le Phuong Nam, Nguyen Trung Hieu

HIS Juniors : Sung Wook Baek, Daniel Papendieck, Peter Jong Seong Kim (Capt), Naoto Izumi, Tue Gyhrs , Jamie Martin, Fumito Kuma , Ji Sung Park, Jae Hoon Choi, Gustav Moeller

Final Girls:

VAS Girls 4.7 (19pts)
HIS Girls 1.3 (6pts)

HIS Girls battled solidly in this game but had no answer to the aerial brilliance of Vi Ha My ably assisted by her midfield partner Nguyen Nga. They were backed up by a whirling dervish in defense for VAS Girls, Le Nguyen Hong Nhung. Best for HIS Girls was the omnipresent, Clara Gyhrs from Denmark. This was the first win for VAS Girls in this particular competition, taking the cup from the defending champions HIS Girls.

VAS Girls : Trinh Ngoc Hoa, Dang Thi Thanh Lam, Le Nguyen Hong Nhung, Nguyen Nga, Vi Ha My (Capt) , Pham Luu Vi, Pham Hong Ngoc, Do Dieu Huong, Le Quynh Hoa, Nguyen Kim Ngoc, Ho Ha My, Bui Ngoc Anh, Trinh Nhi Nhi

HIS Girls : Haruka Shimada, Reina Takahashi (Capt), Kanami Suzuki, Thu Lam, Yara Eltaify, Clara Gyhrs, Monika Tranova, Karen Takahashi, Aisyah Mislan, Alifah Mislan, Nami Maruno

Final Senior Boys:

HIS Seniors 3.11 (20pts)
VAS Seniors 2.5 (11pts)

VAS Seniors played much better in this game than they did in the Hanoi Exhibition Cup in February. However, whenever they started to get close to HIS Seniors, HIS always seemed to have an extra gear to go into. It was a performance won by a clinical display of point taking and a credit to Coach Leo Dyar.

HIS Seniors had many fine players throughout the field. The captain, Masaru Sato from Japan showed great soloing ability. Shin Yong Eui from Korea gave a masterful display in the art of high fielding. Amaya Rigiberto from Panama was a tower of strength in midfield and Kapoor Ansh from India courageously played on in defense despite a back injury. Best for VAS Seniors was the goalkeeper, Nguyen Viet Linh who pulled off many important saves to keep VAS in the game.

This was the first time HIS Seniors had won the All Vietnam Schools Senior Cup following Hanoi Academy in 2012 and VAS Seniors in 2011 and 2010.

HIS Seniors: Miyazaki Norihiro, Sato Masaru, Shin Yong Eui, Ryu Jin Hyuk, Park Chan Min, Choi Myung Hun, Woo Ji Hyuk, Kapoor Ansh, Amaya Rigiberto, Nguyen Manh Tuan, Firdaus Shafiai Mohammad
VAS Seniors: Nguyen Viet Linh, Pham Bao Ha, Luu Hai Phong, Dao Minh Tri, Nguyen Tung Anh(Capt), Pham Viet Gia Khoa, Hoang Bang Viet, Pham Quoc Viet, Nguyen Duc Manh, Nguyen Quang Minh, Do Nhat Quang, Nguyen Duc Huy, Nong Quy Dat

Winners: All-Vietnam Schools Cup 2013
Junior Boys: VAS Hanoi
Girls : VAS Hanoi
Senior Boys: Hanoi International School

Well done to the various coaches involved. HIS coaches: Mike Clifford, Colm Ross, Leo Dyar, Althea Gallaway, Brent Chesterman and James Kaunhoven. VAS coaches: Jim Kiernan and Vu Xuan Thuan. The referee, Seamus Doran of Hanoi Academy put in a solid stint arbitrating in all three games.

Thanks to Education in Ireland, Movenpick Hotel, Hanoi, the Asian Gulf Board and Dublin GAA for their continued support for the Viet Celts Schools Gaelic Football Programme. Many thanks to everybody at VAS for their help with logistics and especially to the VAS sports teachers for their help on the day.

Special thanks to Lana Le who organised the medals, the Irish Ambassador, Damien Cole who presented them in his own genial manner and finally VTC 1O television who came out to film the event.

Jim Kiernan

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