The stadium is not yet complete, so the Vietnamese teqball team has to practice outside.

Although there is only 1 day left until the official competition day, on the afternoon of December 9, the teqball field still had not completed the final items, forcing the Vietnamese team to practice outside.

6 hopes of the Vietnamese teqball team, no pressure to achieve results

Teqball, also known as foot table tennis, is one of the first sports to be played in Chonburi after the opening day of the 33rd SEA Games. This is a sport that combines football and table tennis, played on a special curved table and using a football. In which, players use any part of their body (except their hands) to send the ball over the net. It is similar to table tennis but requires the techniques of football and sepak takraw, and there is no physical contact between players.

Coach Le Thanh Tung is instructing female athletes.

PHOTO: KHA HOA

This sport is growing rapidly in Southeast Asia, attracting the attention of many fans. In Vietnam last year, when the world championship was held on Nguyen Hue walking street (HCMC), hundreds of athletes from many countries competed, turning the central area into a vibrant international sports stage. The tournament had a large audience to witness and cheer. As for Thailand, the host country of the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, this sport has long been popularized, so the SEA Games is an opportunity to further promote this "strange" type to the public in the region.

Ba Truong Giang (16) will compete in men's singles and men's doubles.

PHOTO: KHA HOA

Beautiful moves by Le Anh Khoa. He will participate in the men's doubles event.

PHOTO: KHA HOA

This is also the sport in which the Vietnamese team, with the core being athletes from Ho Chi Minh City managed by Hoa Lu Sports Center, follows the form of socialization, finding their own sponsors to cover the costs. That is why the initial list in the decision of the Vietnamese sports delegation was 8 athletes, but when they arrived in Thailand, there were only 6 people, partly for that reason. However, the team still received attention and the best conditions.

Coaching staff and 6 male and female players of Vietnam teqball team

PHOTO: KHA HOA

Team leader Tran Duy Kham said: "Being able to compete officially in a congress is an opportunity for us to demonstrate the athletes' abilities after nearly a year of approaching and practicing this sport. Although everything was initially unfamiliar and this was also the first time we competed abroad, with no experience, we determined to try our best to compete in the best way possible."

Trinh Gia Nghi (8) practices her moves. She will participate in the women's singles and women's doubles.

PHOTO: KHA HOA

According to Mr. Tran Duy Kham, Thailand is still the strongest in this sport, besides Singapore, Malaysia and even Laos also play well. But that does not mean Vietnam is "inferior". On the contrary, the whole team is not under any pressure to achieve results, so they are very comfortable and confident. The advantage is that out of 6 athletes, 4 people (including 3 men) come from sepak takraw or sepak takraw, so in terms of technique, they are very suitable for teqball. The remaining 2 female athletes, Tran Thi Tra My and Nguyen Thu Hoai, are from women's football, so the movements to approach this sport are not too difficult.

Vietnamese athletes warm up with the ball

PHOTO: KHA HOA

As planned, the Vietnamese teqball team will compete in all 5 events including men's singles (Ba Truong Giang), women's singles (Trinh Gia Nghi), men's doubles (Ba Truong Giang - Le Anh Khoa), women's doubles (Trinh Gia Nghi - Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai) and mixed doubles (Do Bao Huy - Tran Thi Tra My). In addition to team leader Tran Duy Kham, the coaching board also includes coaches Le Thanh Tung, Le Quang Khang and Vo Minh Hieu Thuan.

3 athletes Tra My, Thu Hoai and Gia Nghi (from left to right)

PHOTO: KHA HOA

3 athletes Bao Huy, Truong Giang and Anh Khoa (from left to right) are confident

PHOTO: KHA HOA

The team had to "practice outside" because the stadium was not finished yet.

As Thanh Nien reported, the teqball stadium was still in disarray two days ago when everything was still in place. By the evening of December 9, which means there was only a little over a day left until the official competition from 9am on December 11, the decoration work on the field was still continuing. The assembly of equipment and tools for the competition was still going on in a hurry. The technical department and referees still had to go back and forth to check each item on the field. Even the competition table had not yet drawn a service line and a net line.

The technical department still has to adjust the competition table.

PHOTO: KHA HOA

Observing the teqball stadium, the coaching staff of the Vietnamese team expressed concern because the ceiling of the stadium was quite low and the lights were a bit glaring. This would significantly affect the technique and psychology of the athletes. Because the competition movements often involve throwing people in the air, looking up at this glare would be very uncomfortable, leading to mistakes and fouls.

Still working on each item to finish

PHOTO: KHA HOA

Because the stadium is not yet completed, according to the training schedule provided, the teams will be familiarized with the field from the afternoon of December 9. However, when they arrived, the teams were not arranged by the Organizing Committee to practice and continuously received "sorry" sounds. This is an extremely important factor because if they are not allowed to practice in the competition venue, the feeling of space will not be good and ball control will easily have technical errors.

Measure every meter of land on the field to draw lines

PHOTO: KHA HOA

Instead, the Vietnamese team was forced to go to the side of the stadium to practice outside. Of course, the practice sessions outside the official competition table at the SEA Games were only to help the athletes "warm up" a bit, but did not solve any technical problems.

The coaching staff and Vietnamese players were only allowed to visit and observe the stadium, and were not allowed to practice.

PHOTO: KHA HOA

Coach Vo Minh Hieu Thuan said that he had requested the Organizing Committee to allow the team to enter the official gymnasium to practice on the morning of December 10 because that would be a very necessary practice session to get acquainted with the table tennis table. Because in the afternoon, the draw was made to set the competition schedule and the coaching staff needed to maintain the athletes' physical strength before the fierce matches on the morning of December 11, starting with the men's and women's singles matches with strong opponents in the region.

As of the evening of December 9, the teqball stadium was still not completed.

PHOTO: KHA HOA

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/san-thi-dau-chua-hoan-thien-doi-teqball-viet-nam-phai-tap-chay-o-ngoai-185251209190315125.htm