Vietnamese table tennis keeps the fire of courage, nurtures the desire for gold

Athlete Nguyen Anh Tu (red shirt) during a recent training trip in China with the Vietnamese table tennis team.

2025 becomes the starting point of a new, urgent and also hopeful preparation cycle. The 43rd National Table Tennis Championship of Nhan Dan Newspaper contributes to creating an important stepping stone, when the players must demonstrate their mettle, form and maturity if they want to be included in the national team.

From that foundation, the aspiration to conquer the 33rd SEA Games Gold medal is nurtured every day through the relentless efforts of each athlete.

Strengthening the foundation of forces

Maintaining the spirit of learning, looking straight at the limitations of the 32nd SEA Games, the Vietnamese table tennis team has made the most of domestic and international tournaments to review its strength. During that process, the 43rd National Table Tennis Championship of Nhan Dan Newspaper became a particularly important event.

Not only is it a prestigious playground, the Tournament is also a measure of strength and a key assessment step for the Coaching Board before the 33rd SEA Games. The closer the competition day of the regional sports festival gets, the tighter the requirements for technical tactics, physical strength and psychology of the athletes are, aiming at the goal of both stabilizing the core team and boldly giving opportunities to the rising young generation.

Athletes compete in friendly matches during a training session in China.

Affirming the determination to invest heavily in table tennis, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Danh Hoang Viet, Director of the Vietnam Sports Department, emphasized the industry's strategic orientation in the preparation process for the 33rd SEA Games.

Accordingly, the current Vietnamese table tennis team has a combination of core forces with famous and well-known athletes such as Mai Hoang My Trang, Nguyen Anh Tu, and a number of potential and excellent young athletes. Previously, the Department had given priority to sending young table tennis athletes to China for training 25 days before performing their duties at the 33rd SEA Games.

With many years of experience as a table tennis coach and working with many generations of athletes, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Danh Hoang Viet believes that in order to achieve higher goals, the training system and training conditions need to be adjusted in the direction of building the best training location system for all sports, including table tennis.

According to the Director of the Vietnam Sports and Physical Training Department, the infrastructure for accommodation and training equipment has been gradually invested in systematically. The industry has reached an agreement with the locality, specifically the Hanoi Athlete Training Center, to build a stable training place, helping athletes feel secure in long-term training.

Young athletes who want to become top players need a long accumulation process of many years. That requires a physical foundation, technical and tactical skills, and requires a strong competitive spirit and mentality. The big difficulty of Vietnamese table tennis lies in the fact that athletes do not have many good training partners, and lack of contact with high-level players in the world . Therefore, the optimal solution now is to take advantage of training locations in China.

During a recent working trip, the Vietnam Sports Administration worked with the two provinces of Guangxi and Guangdong, receiving a commitment to be ready to receive many sports from Vietnam for long-term training. This is a favorable condition for young athletes to practice in a highly competitive environment and access modern training methods.

Mr. Phan Anh Tuan, in charge of the table tennis department of the Vietnam Sports Administration, said the team is striving for 1 to 2 gold medals in the team, singles and doubles events.

According to Mr. Tuan, trust is placed in the young generation, a force that has had many outstanding achievements in Southeast Asian youth tournaments in recent years.

The Gold Medals of Le Hoang Lam, Nguyen Duy Phong, the men's pair Nguyen Duc Viet-Nguyen Van Tuan Anh or the Bronze Medal of the U15 women's pair Do Le Van Chi-Le Hoang Linh Dan show that the foundation of the young force is gradually forming.

In addition, there are many promising faces such as: Nguyen Hanh Ngan, Tran Dieu Linh, Le Gia Han, Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang. Mr. Tuan said that priority should be given to sending 3 to 5 excellent athletes to China for long-term training for at least one year. Stabilizing the team of athletes requires the participation of localities and units in supervision and support.

Besides, hiring foreign experts and increasing international competitions, especially ITTF Protour tournaments, are key factors to help athletes improve their rankings and gain experience.

The table tennis team has had and is having potential young faces expected to bring high achievements at SEA Games 33.

Aspirations from the young generation

Meanwhile, the determination for the next SEA Games season is evident in each athlete, especially the young faces. Tran Mai Ngoc, one of the promising female players, said that the National Table Tennis Championship of Nhan Dan Newspaper is a prestigious tournament with high expertise, because athletes must perform well to have the opportunity to be selected for the national team.

The training time in China helped Mai Ngoc improve her physical strength and skills. With the goal of SEA Games 33, Ngoc's top priority now is to maintain optimal physical strength through a strict diet and training regimen.

Assessing the overall expertise, Head Coach of the national table tennis team, Vu Van Trung, said that after the 32nd SEA Games, the team had two opportunities to compete internationally: the Olympic qualifiers and the Southeast Asian championship, from which they could clearly identify the strengths and weaknesses of each athlete, especially young players like Dinh Anh Hoang.

The head coach acknowledged the professional growth of the next generation, evidenced by the Gold medal in the women's singles of Nguyen Khoa Dieu Khanh. During the 25-day training trip in China, the coaching staff and athletes focused on improving their techniques and tactics, and improving their physical strength to enter the competition in the best condition.

According to him, young talents like Nguyen Anh Tu, Dinh Anh Hoang and Tran Mai Ngoc - the reigning champions of the mixed doubles at the 32nd SEA Games - are creating new hope, although their experience and international competition mentality still need to be improved.

“The coaching board has identified the important task of helping the players maintain their spirit, promote their desire to contribute and not be afraid of any opponent. The difficulty for each member of the team is that currently Southeast Asian table tennis in countries such as Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia is developing very strongly, while we still lack contact or long-term training trips. The specific goal of the team is to try to maintain 1 Gold medal, and focus on successfully defending the Gold medal in mixed doubles at the 32nd SEA Games,” Mr. Vu Van Trung shared.

For Nguyen Anh Tu, SEA Games 32 became a memorable milestone and a motivation for him to continue to strive. “Personally, my team and I have been practicing very hard recently. We have prepared very carefully, the first factor is physical strength, because I think this is a long-term competition. The whole team has prepared in the best physical condition as our techniques and tactics have been practiced every day during the recent training trip to China. Hopefully, all of us in the team can execute as scheduled,” said athlete Nguyen Anh Tu.

According to the schedule, table tennis at SEA Games 33 will start competing on December 13 with two events: men's team and women's team. The fundamental investments, careful preparation and consensus of the coaching staff and athletes are creating a new momentum for Vietnamese table tennis.

SEA Games 33 is an achievement target but also an opportunity to affirm the bravery and maturity of the next generation. The road ahead is full of challenges, but each passing day contributes a part of strength to the journey of "keeping the fire of bravery, nurturing the desire for gold" that Vietnamese table tennis is aiming for.

HOAI THU

Source: https://nhandan.vn/bong-ban-viet-nam-giu-lua-ban-linh-nuoi-khat-vong-vang-post928895.html