NDO – Vietnamese athletes are confident in their chances of accomplishing a top-three spot in the overall medal count as the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games approaches.
The 28th SEA Games will officially take place in Singapore from June 5 to 16 at an estimated cost of roughly US$324.5 million, as revealed by the organising board. Athletes from 11 national contingents in the region will fight for medals in a total of 36 sports, with Vietnam fielding a 640-member team, including 420 athletes, to compete in 26 events.
Talking about the country’s goals, Tran Duc Phan, deputy director of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training and head of the Vietnam delegation, said that Vietnam targets a top-three place in the overall medal tally, striving to achieve between 50 and 70 gold medals.
Although a number of events have been excluded from the Games by host Singapore, many of which are Vietnam’s strengths, Vietnam can definitely meet the envisaged gold medal target with its hopes pinned on athletes in key sports including taekwondo, judo, pencak silat, boxing, shooting, athletics, gymnastics, rowing, archery, wushu, swimming and fencing.
Right from the beginning of the year, leaders of the General Department affirmed that in 2015, the sporting sector would direct its focus on some key events under the Olympic competition system in preparation for the 28th SEA Games and other big international tournaments. At present, leading athletes in Vietnam’s top sports such as swimming, gymnastics, shooting and athletics, are participating in overseas training courses, with swimmers Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, Hoang Quy Phuoc and Tran Duy Khoi training in the United States, Japan and China respectively.
The US training has proved to be beneficial for Anh Vien. The Vietnamese swimming star overcame 190 competitors to win the women’s 200m medley gold medal with a time of 2:16.06 at the 2015 United States National Swimming Championships in March before blasting the 400m medley bronze (4:42.60) at the 2015 Arena Pro Swim Series the following month. Meanwhile, her male teammate on the national team, Quy Phuoc, also boasted an encouraging performance during his Japanese training course, clearing the B standard for the 2016 Olympic Games at Japan’s national swimming championships.
Along with swimming, athletics has also received special attention from the sporting sector. Sprinter Quach Thi Lan has been in the US for training since the beginning of April. Lan, joining Nguyen Thi Oanh and Nguyen Thi Huyen, are the country’s biggest hopes for top honour in the women’s 400m dash at the upcoming 28th SEA Games. “All athletes are training at a high intensity aimed at realising the goal of achieving about 10 gold medals,” said coach of the national team, Nguyen Trong Ho.
Vietnamese shooting targets to win at least 3-4 gold medals at the 28th SEA Games. A group of key marksmen are currently training in the Republic of Korea, and some of them will arrive in the US in the middle of this month for the 2015 ISSF World Cup to be held in Fort Benning.
Athletes in other sports are also mastering their expertise at the three big national sports training centres in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, with many of them sent back to clubs to compete in national tournaments to gain experience and sharpen their skills, aiming to best prepare for the 28th SEA Games.
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