Swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang is expected to make a special mark at the ASIAD 19.

In late May and early June, officials of the Vietnam Sports Administration had working sessions with leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop a plan for the Vietnamese sports delegation to compete at the sports event in Hangzhou, China.

The Vietnamese track and field team will participate in the 2023 Asian Championships in Thailand in July, before participating in the world championships in August.

Swimmers Nguyen Huy Hoang, Tran Hung Nguyen, Nguyen Thanh Bao and 8 other male and female athletes in Vietnam teams have been sent to Hungary for further training, and at the same time they will take part in the 2023 world championships which will be held in this country.

Athletes in other sports teams such as weightlifting, shooting, rowing, table tennis, gymnastics, taekwondo, judo, karate, and fencing are making efforts to practice for competitions at the ASIAD 19.

Vietnam is attempting to win 3-5 gold medals. At the ASIAD 17 in 2018 in Indonesia, Vietnamese athletes won 5 gold medals, 15 silver medals and 19 bronze medals, which is considered the most success in the history of Vietnamese players. Athlete Quoc Thi Lan won a medal in women's 400m hurdles, athlete Bui Thi Thu Thao won medals in women's long jump and Vietnamese martial artist Tran Dinh Nam brought home a medal in pencak silat for 75kg weight class. Vietnamese athletes also captured the medal for women's lightweight quadruple sculls.

However, at Asiad 19, pencak silat is not included in the competition program meanwhile the women's lightweight 4-way rowing competition is also likely to be eliminated. Worse, women's hurdles champion Quach Thi Lan certainly can’t participate in the sports event because of the doping suspicion and Bui Thi Thu Thao is not sure to take part in the event.

Instead, other sports namely Sepak takraw, shooting, chess, rowing, karate, swimming, cycling, and e-sports are highly likely to have medals as experienced athletes, even with young faces with great potential registered for the event.

The 19th Asian Games (ASIAD 19) is scheduled to take place from September 23 to October 8 in China’s Hangzhou City with 42 official sports. Vietnamese athletes will take part in 20 sports. Countries should finalize the registration list of athletes in July.

Source: SGGP