Despite a great challenge from opponents, Vietnam raises high hopes of winning more than 10 golds in wrestling, which is considered a gold mine of the country’s sport at regional competitions, including the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 2023) due to take place in Cambodia this May.

The Vietnamese wrestling team have set a target of bagging nine to 12 gold medals at SEA Games 32, a modest target compared to a total of 17 gold medals they earned at SEA Games 31.

“This is a realistic target in the context that our wrestlers have to face a lot of difficulties in their away matches,” said Ta Tung Duc, a sport official in charge of Vietnamese wrestling.

Duc explained that except for hosts Cambodia, other countries have only been allowed to register up to 18 sets of medals out of a total of 30 sets, meaning wrestlers can only take part in six out of 10 weight classes for Greco-Roman, and freestyle for both men and women.

In addition, major Vietnamese opponents such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia have naturalized wrestlers from China, Iran and the Republic of Korea, putting pressure on Vietnamese athletes.

At SEA Games 31, Cambodia won a gold and a silver in men’s freestyle thanked to naturalized Sou Bali and Mo Sari born in Iran.

To prepare for SEA Games 2023, Cambodia continued to naturalise some wrestlers from Iran and the Republic of Korea that brought home 19 medals at the Southeast Asia Wrestling Championship 2022.

“We will have to focus on potential weight classes to achieve the set goal,” said Duc.

After SEA Games 32, the Vietnamese wrestling team will then compete at the 19th Asian games (ASIAD) and the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifiers. They will also flex their muscle at the 2023 Asian U23 Wrestling Championship, and have a training trip to Japan and Mongolia.

source: VOV