Phương advances, Nam aims to win Egyptian tennis tournament

HÀ NỘI — Nguyễn Văn Phương of Việt Nam advanced to the second qualification round of the M 一 五 Sharm El Sheikh tennis tournament in Egypt on Sunday.

Phương defeated Ahmed Bayoumy of the hosts  六- 二,  六- 二. He will play Danil Spasibo from Russia in the second round this afternoon, Hà Nội time.

Phương is one of two Vietnamese athletes at the US$ 一 五,000 hard-court event along with national No  一 Lý Hoàng Nam.

While Phương must start from the qualifier, Nam is in the main draw, which will be held after the qualification on February  二 五.

The Southeast Asian Games champion Nam has set a target to take the trophy home although he is seeded No  八 here.

Nam who reached his best world position at world No  三 八 五 in  二0 一 八 has dropped to No  六 七 三 currently after his break because of injuries and failures at recent tournaments in Thailand after his comeback.

He said the Egyptian event would be a chance for him to improve his ranking, hopefully making the top  四00 in a short time. — VNS