Vietnam aims for 70-85 gold medals at 27th SEA Games

Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang (left).

The Vietnamese sporting delegation is expected to reach the top three of the medal tally at the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar this December, said Hoang Vinh Giang, Deputy Chairman and Secretary General of the Vietnam Olympic Committee.

In a recent interview with a VOV reporter, Hoang Vinh Giang stated many popular Vietnamese sporting events, such as gymnastics and fencing are not listed in the competition schedule for the coming SEA Games.

He added that Vietnam also hoped to introduce its traditional martial art - Vovinam–at the region’s largest sporting event.

He expressed confidence that the games will provide an excellent opportunity for local athletes to hone their professional skills and gain experience from other regional competitors who  currently rank among the world’s top athletes in many events, including badminton, boxing, and table tennis.

According to Giang, the host team is likely to secure the highest position in the medal tally because many of the events in the games programme are geared towards their strengths, such as chess and sepak takraw.

Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are all viewed as strong competitors for the top three.

Myanmar has almost completed its preparatory work for the 27th SEA Games, with the addition of a brand new purpose-built village for athletes.

However, Giang did raise some concerns regarding travel at the games due to inconvenient domestic flights to two of the main competition venues, Naypyidaw and Yangon.

Local tennis champ competes in US

Vietnamese tennis player Ly Hoang Nam is competing at the Eddie Herr Championships for young players, which opened in the US on December 2.

In the first round, Nam met Belarusian player Artur Dubinski, ranked 201st by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). He will continue to face strong competition, in particularly from Marcelo Zormann of Brazil – seeded No.8 in the championship, and ranked 27th in the world.

The competition is very important for outstanding young athletes who want to increase their points and world ranking.  It attracts many top players from around the world, including France’s Johan Tatlot (7th in ITF ratings), and Germany’s Alexander Zverev (1st in ITF ratings).

This is the second consecutive international tourney Ly Hoang Nam has attended so far this year, after the Yucatan Cup in Mexico where Nam reached the third round.

At present, he is striving to qualify for the 2014 Grand Slam for young players, scheduled for Australia early next year.

Binh Dinh province shines in martial arts competition

Binh Dinh province, one of the cradles of Vietnamese traditional martial arts, saw two of its athletes win gold medals at the Vietnamese Traditional and Boxing Championships, which ended on Saturday.

Binh Dinh's first gold medal was won by Dang Tran Anh Tuan in the men's 48kg category, while Nguyen Quoc Tien won the second for the coastal province in the men's 60kg.

Martial artists from Nghe An also put on a strong performance by claiming two gold medals, won by Phan Van Yen in the men's 64kg and Nguyen Van Quyet in the men's 54kg.

Also, Truong Van Den won a gold medal for Military Zone 7 in the men's 51kg, and HCM City's only gold medal was won by Pham Tien Hai in the men's 57kg.

Vietnam Open Badminton commences

The Yonex-Sunrise Vietnam Grand Prix Open 2013 kicked off today at Phan Dinh Phung Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, with nearly 240 shuttlers from 13 countries around the world fighting it out for a slice of the US$50,000 cash prize.

Vietnam has fielded a strong lineup of 32 players to compete in the men’s and women’s singles and doubles events and the mixed doubles category.

The hosts Pham Cao Cuong and Nguyen Hoang Nam (men’s singles), Vu Thi Trang and Le Thu Huyen (women’s singles), and Nguyen Hoang Nam – Duong Bao Duc (men’s doubles) have received byes to the main round, while the other players must win in the preliminary rounds to advance.

This year’s men’s singles discipline sees the absence of reigning champion Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam, who has decided to skip the event to prepare for the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

Minh clinched his fourth Vietnam Open title at last year’s event by defeating Takuma Ueda from Japan in two straight sets 21-14 and 21-19.

The annual tournament, which runs through December 8, is the final rehearsal for Vietnamese shuttlers ahead of the 27th SEA Games, which begin in nine days’ time.