Dream of wearing the Vietnamese pickleball team jersey

Huynh Thien Phuc competes in the 2024 Asian Open Pickleball Tournament

At the 2024 Asian Open Pickleball Tournament held for the first time in Ho Chi Minh City, fans were especially impressed with tennis player Huynh Thien Phuc, when he won a double gold medal in the 19+ singles and open men's doubles (paired with tennis player Marcel Chan).

Speaking fluent Vietnamese to Thanh Nien Newspaper, Huynh Thanh Phuc said he was born in Vietnam and moved to the US with his family at the age of 3, but still regularly and very much enjoys visiting his homeland.

The tennis player born in 2000 expressed: "I played tennis when I was studying at university in San Francisco. After getting a master's degree in finance in Washington, I discovered that pickleball is very fun and there are many people playing it.

I have been playing pickleball for 10 months now. I am actively practicing with my friends to try to turn professional. Before entering the 2024 Asian Pickleball Open, I am temporarily ranked 40th in the APP world .

Thien Phuc won the gold medal in the men's open doubles event with Marcel Chan

Huynh Thien Phuc shared that his experience playing tennis helped him learn pickleball quite quickly. According to him, pickleball when played individually is not much different from tennis, but still requires systematic practice of the specific techniques of pickleball.

He said: "Many people who switch from tennis think that when they start playing pickleball, they just need to hit the ball "bang bang" like tennis. Pickleball is a new sport and still needs to learn its own techniques. Pickleball at the back of the court is similar to tennis, but when you go to the net, you volley like table tennis and move like badminton.

Pickleball is like a mix of the three sports mentioned above. I saw the similarities and was interested in learning it. I think that if you study pickleball systematically and have the mindset of tennis and table tennis, you will play very well."

Huynh Thien Phuc won gold medal in 19+ category

There is an interesting point when Vietnam has won many medals, including Asian gold medals in many events, but Huynh Thien Phuc is the first tennis player to defeat all Asian opponents to win the men's singles 19+ event.

The 24-year-old man with a master's degree in finance's powerful attacking style of play has made him a phenomenon, attracting a lot of attention from the audience during the 2024 Asian Open Pickleball Tournament at Ky Hoa II Club.

Thien Phuc shared: "At first, I wanted to play tennis professionally. But because I was still young, I took the opportunity to study to get a master's degree in finance first, so that if I didn't succeed in sports , I would still have a good job. Now I aim to become a professional pickleball player.

Huynh Thien Phuc always dreamed of wearing the Vietnamese national team jersey.

I am very happy that Vietnam is hosting the Asian Pickleball Championship for the first time. I hope that the pickleball movement will develop rapidly in Vietnam. If I have the opportunity, I really hope to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey to participate in international tournaments.

Pickleball in America developed before Asia. They played longer so their level is ahead of ours. But if tennis, badminton, table tennis players switch over, the strength of Vietnamese pickleball will be different.

I think if we are willing to invest money in this sport, pickleball will develop strongly in Vietnam because everyone can play it. For example, normal people get tired after playing tennis for 1 hour, but with pickleball we can play for 5-6 hours because it is easy to play and it is fun to play with friends."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tay-vot-viet-kieu-doat-2-hcv-chau-a-mo-khoac-ao-doi-tuyen-pickleball-viet-nam-185240511171804097.htm