Bao Chau's medal collection during sports competitions - Photo: XV
From pool to pickleball court
Born into a family with a tradition of education , Tran Huy Bao Chau showed his talent and passion for sports from a young age. In grade 3, Bao Chau's father took him to a local swimming center to improve his health. After a while, he learned to swim and showed his talent far surpassing that of his peers.
Since then, Bao Chau has been practicing swimming regularly, participating in swimming teams of the school, city, and province at the youth level. With outstanding talent, she was called to join the provincial swimming team to practice and compete professionally, but due to family circumstances not allowing, Bao Chau only practiced and competed in amateur competitions.
However, from grade 5 to grade 8, Bao Chau participated and won gold medals in swimming competitions for students in the city, province, and nationwide, such as: Gold medal in freestyle swimming for primary school students at a distance of 50m at the 9th Quang Binh Provincial Sports Festival (old) (2022). In 2024, participating in the National Phu Dong Sports Festival, Bao Chau won 3 bronze medals in the 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, and 200m women's relay...
I thought swimming would be a part of Bao Chau's entire journey of learning and training, but then, a turning point brought the 14-year-old girl to pickleball in November 2024. That day, my father and I went to practice swimming but the swimming pool was closed for renovation. Seeing that, Bao Chau's father, who also played badminton, tennis, pickleball very well, took her to the pickleball court to watch. At that time, my father's team was short of players, so he invited Bao Chau to try out.
Mr. Tran Tu Luc, Bao Chau's father, said: "Although it was his first time playing, he received the ball quite accurately, moved flexibly and had good physical strength. From then on, I bought a racket and taught him basic movements at home. After getting used to it, I took him to the practice court. In just one month, he was performing the correct technical movements and then practicing with the players in my club."
Despite her passion for sports, Bao Chau’s academic performance has not been affected. For 8 consecutive years, she has been an excellent student of the school, always in the top of the class. “I think playing sports is to improve my health. If I have good health, I will study well,” Bao Chau confided.
During his 8 years of study, Tran Huy Bao Chau has always been an excellent student, winning 2 second prizes in the city-level Literature competition; 11 school-level prizes in categories such as: calligraphy, painting, top scorer, top scorer in English. In terms of sports achievements, he won 3 bronze medals in swimming at the 2024 National Phu Dong Sports Festival; 17 gold medals, 3 silver medals, 4 bronze medals in swimming at the provincial and city levels. In pickleball alone, Bao Chau has won many medals at domestic and international tournaments. In addition to swimming and pickleball, Bao Chau is also good at chess, Vovinam, shuttlecock, athletics and has achieved many achievements in tournaments. |
Reaching the continent
Switching to pickleball in less than a year, Bao Chau has demonstrated her rare ability to quickly absorb techniques, good physical strength, and especially a strong and persistent playing style. With the support of her family, she quickly rose up.
In 2025, Bao Chau participated in national youth pickleball tournaments and won many gold medals. With outstanding achievements, in June 2025, she was officially selected by the People's Police Pickleball Club (under the Ministry of Public Security) to join the youth team.
This is a very good environment that helps Bao Chau to be trained professionally and disciplined to enter the international arena. According to the coaches, Bao Chau came to pickleball late, but after only a few months, he has shown very good technical qualities, tactics, and competitive thinking. He is a model of a young athlete who is very promising for the future of Vietnamese pickleball.
Tran Huy Bao Chau (left) competes in a pickleball tournament - Photo: NVCC
The 2025 Asian Junior Pickleball Open held in Da Nang City in July 2025 was the first time Bao Chau competed internationally. The tournament attracted 246 athletes from 12 countries around the world, competing in the U12, U14, U16 and U18 age groups. Bao Chau represented the People's Public Security Club in 4 competitions, including: U14 women's singles, U14 women's doubles, U16 women's singles and U16 women's doubles.
In the U14 women's doubles, Bao Chau paired up with Pham Ngoc Ha Vi. After two group stage matches, they easily defeated the pair from India with a score of 11-5 and the pair from Ho Chi Minh City with a score of 11-2.
In the quarter-final match, the Bao Chau-Ha Vi pair easily defeated two athletes from Taiwan with a score of 11-0; in the semi-final match, they defeated a domestic pair with a score of 11-1. Entering the final match, they met a pair of athletes from Thailand who are tall and have played pickleball for a long time, and are considered strong candidates for the championship.
But with great determination, the Vietnamese athlete pair competed confidently and bravely and won with a score of 15-7 to take the championship. At this tournament, Bao Chau also excellently won 2 more silver medals in the U14 women's singles and U16 women's doubles.
Bao Chau shared: “Because of the tight schedule, the coach gave us strategies and tactics suitable for each match and opponent. In the final match, the opponents were a pair of Thai athletes with a very strong playing style, often pushing the ball long to the two corners of the court and leading the score.
To reduce the opponent's excitement, we had to use the time out right to regain composure, find ways to neutralize the opponent's attacks and launch decisive "attacks" to win.
The first gold medal in pickleball at an international tournament is a worthy reward for Bao Chau's efforts. It is not only a joy and pride for her and her family, but also a source of motivation for other children who share the same passion for this sport.
Spring King
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/co-gai-vang-cua-pickleball-viet-nam-196202.htm
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