The opening ceremony of the 33rd SEA Games, taking place at 7 PM today (December 9th) at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok (Thailand), promises to deliver a spectacular feast of sound and light, meeting international standards.
At a press conference introducing the opening ceremony, held on December 7th in Bangkok, the organizers of the 33rd SEA Games announced that the ceremony would consist of five main acts, each offering memorable moments for the audience.
Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok was the venue for the opening ceremony on the evening of December 9th (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).
The five aforementioned performances encompass a journey back to the roots of the SEA Games, igniting a passion for competition, showcasing cultural solidarity, demonstrating sportsmanship , and ultimately honoring regional friendship, carrying the common slogan of this year's Southeast Asian Games: "We are one".
Following the ceremony will be the entertainment portion. The entertainment part of this year's SEA Games opening ceremony will feature performances by leading Thai artists.
A highlight of the event, mentioned by the host country, is the appearance of the very popular Thai-born K-Pop singer "Bam Bam". Also in the music section, rappers F.Hero and Tong Twopee, and Belgian-Thai singer Violette Wautier, will perform on the stage of the massive Rajamangala Stadium.
Host nation Thailand has set a target of over 200 gold medals, even aiming for more than 240. To achieve this goal, the host country of the 33rd SEA Games has introduced many new and innovative sports and events into the competition program.
There are some sports or competitions that, at first glance, Vietnamese sports fans may not be able to imagine what they are, how the competition is conducted, or how the scoring system works.
From the perspective of Vietnamese sports, we are not chasing quantity; we remain steadfast in our goal of focused development, concentrating on winning SEA Games gold medals in fundamental Olympic sports. The Vietnamese sports delegation's objective for the Southeast Asian Games is to win 90-110 gold medals, potentially ranking second overall.
The 33rd SEA Games officially opened on December 9th, featuring 50 sports and 574 events (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).
Extremely unusual sports at the 33rd SEA Games.
It is a "tradition" of the Southeast Asian Games that host nations often take advantage of the opportunity to include very unusual sports and events, whose rules and gameplay are almost exclusively familiar to the host country, into the competition program.
At the 33rd SEA Games, the sports and events that appeared for the first time included 5-a-side baseball, canoe slalom, coastal rowing, hockey 5s, and kabaddi (a game of Indian origin, similar to the folk game "U" in Vietnam).
Furthermore, the list also includes kite boarding, makruk (Thai chess, similar to Cambodian chess), teqball (a hybrid sport between football and table tennis), woodball (using sticks to hit a ball through a tiny wooden gate)...
Vietnam is currently not pursuing these very unfamiliar sports or events. These are sports that appeared at the 33rd SEA Games, but are unlikely to appear at the next SEA Games, or any SEA Games after that. At the same time, it is certain that these sports or events will not be present at the Asian Games and the Olympics in the near future.
Teqball made its debut at the SEA Games; it's a sport that combines elements of football and table tennis (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).
Investing in the aforementioned sports would therefore be wasteful. We are not currently competing for medals in that direction. The current policy of Vietnamese sports is to focus on key sports, those that will appear at the Asian Games and the Olympics, such as athletics, swimming, shooting, weightlifting, gymnastics, taekwondo, boxing, wrestling, etc.
These are the sports disciplines that, after the 33rd SEA Games, Vietnamese sports can continue to invest in long-term, seeking medals for the 2026 Asian Games and the 2028 Olympics, as well as future Asian and Olympic Games.
In addition, the Vietnamese sports delegation will also focus on a sport that, while not offering medals at the ASIAD or Olympics, has extremely high mass appeal and creates a huge social impact: football.
The strengths and "gold mines" of Vietnamese sports.
Unlike previous SEA Games, at the 33rd SEA Games, football is a true gold medal mine for Vietnam. The host country, Thailand, is organizing four football events: men's football, women's football, men's futsal, and women's futsal. We have the potential to win gold medals in all four events.
The Vietnamese men's football team is currently the AFF Cup champion, the U23 Southeast Asian champion for three consecutive times (2022, 2023, and 2025), and the Vietnamese women's football team has won the SEA Games four consecutive times in the last four editions (2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023).
Football is a "gold mine" for the Vietnamese sports delegation at the 33rd SEA Games (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).
The Vietnamese women's futsal team is the reigning Southeast Asian champion. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese men's futsal team defeated Thailand (the number one futsal power in Southeast Asia) in their most recent regional tournament.
Athletics continues to be another "gold mine" for Vietnamese sports, with the greatest hope being Nguyen Thi Oanh. The Vietnamese athletics team is participating in the 33rd SEA Games with 51 athletes, aiming to win 12-14 gold medals. It's worth remembering that at the 32nd SEA Games in 2023 in Cambodia, the Vietnamese athletics team won 12 gold medals.
The Vietnamese swimming team is participating in this year's SEA Games with 16 athletes, aiming for at least 6 gold medals. At first glance, this target seems lower than the 7 gold medals we achieved in Cambodia two years ago. However, that's without considering the unknown factors that the Vietnamese swimming team possesses ahead of the 33rd SEA Games.
Shooting aims for 7 gold medals, weightlifting strives to maintain or surpass its 4 gold medals achieved at the 2023 SEA Games, gymnastics aims for 2-3 gold medals, taekwondo aims for 3 gold medals, karate is tasked with seeking 3-4 gold medals, and the wrestling team aims for 6 gold medals…
Several other sports that promise to be popular in Thailand include canoeing, cycling, and fencing. All of these are official Olympic sports. Therefore, winning gold medals in these sports is not only significant in terms of quantity, but also reflects the improving quality of Vietnamese sports.
Hopes in Thailand
The petite girl Nguyen Thi Oanh continues to be a great hope for the athletics team in particular and Vietnamese sports in general at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games. Nguyen Thi Oanh is virtually unrivaled in middle-distance to long-distance running events: 1,500m, 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m and 10,000m women's races.
Nguyen Thi Oanh (left) is a hopeful prospect in Vietnam's "queen of sports" (Photo: Manh Quan).
Two years ago in Cambodia, every step and every achievement of Nguyen Thi Oanh in athletics became a symbol of Vietnamese sports, a symbol of Vietnamese youth for their effort and perseverance on the competition field, striving for success. This time, she is still receiving very high expectations.
Nguyen Huy Hoang plays a role very similar to Nguyen Thi Oanh in athletics, the "queen of sports." After Anh Vien retired from competition, Huy Hoang became the number one swimmer in Vietnam's swimming scene. He is virtually unrivaled in the 400m and 1500m freestyle events at the Southeast Asian Games.
Furthermore, at the 33rd SEA Games, Nguyen Huy Hoang is also expected to perform well in the 10km open water swimming event, a new event introduced by host country Thailand.
In swimming, Pham Thanh Bao is expected to defend his gold medals in the men's 100m and 200m freestyle events. Tran Hung Nguyen will do the same in the men's 200m and 400m individual medley events.
Another name expected to become the next Ánh Viên in the swimming world is Nguyễn Thúy Hiền. This 17-year-old girl broke 4 records and won 7 gold medals at the Southeast Asian Age Group Swimming Championships.
In shooting, Vietnam's hopes lie in Pham Quang Huy, Trinh Thu Vinh, and Ha Minh Thanh. Although host nation Thailand has cut some of Vietnam's strong shooting events, we can still win many gold medals at this year's SEA Games, especially in pistol events.
At the 33rd SEA Games, the Vietnamese men's football team competed for medals at the Rajamangala Stadium (Bangkok), swimming at the Huamark pool within the Rajamangala sports complex, athletics at the Supachalasai Stadium (Bangkok), and women's football and open water swimming in Chonburi (more than 100km from Bangkok)...
These locations are likely to be the hotspots for the Vietnamese sports delegation during the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand.
The achievements of the Vietnamese sports delegation at the 32nd SEA Games in 2023 in Cambodia.
50 sports disciplines at the 33rd SEA Games
50 official competitive sports: Aquatics, Athletics, Archery, Badminton, Basketball, Canoe and Rowing, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Football - Futsal, Golf, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Rugby, Sailing, Shooting, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Wrestling, Figure Skating, Ice Hockey, Modern Pentathlon, Weightlifting, Baseball and Softball, Billiards & Snooker, Boxing, Floorball, Esports, Muay Thai, Netball, Pencak Silat, Petanque, Sepak Takraw, Squash, Bowling, Extreme Sports, Karate. jujitsu, cricket, wushu, kabaddi.
In addition, the 33rd SEA Games also featured four demonstration sports: discus throwing, tug-of-war, air sports, and MMA, with 12 sets of medals not included in the overall medal tally.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hom-nay-khai-mac-sea-games-33-the-thao-viet-nam-dat-trong-tam-mon-olympic-20251205142214016.htm
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