Will Vietnamese sports complete the target of 2-5 gold medals at ASIAD 19?

The Vietnamese sports delegation has only won 1 gold medal, while the target was 2-5 gold medals at the 19th ASIAD.

ASIAD 19 is a difficult Games for Vietnamese sports . Photo: Nam Trung

At the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD 19), the Vietnamese sports delegation set a goal of winning 2-5 gold medals, focusing on the groups of sepak takraw, karate, shooting, boxing, and chess.

Before the departure day, Director of the Department of Physical Training and Sports Dang Ha Viet - Head of the Vietnamese Sports Delegation to the 19th ASIAD said: "Asia is home to many sports and economic powerhouses such as China, Japan, South Korea... They invest heavily in high-performance sports.

As for Vietnamese sports, we have just achieved good results and are a force in the Southeast Asian region. But in the ASIAD arena, Vietnamese sports still have a gap, especially in sports with high precision such as archery and shooting. These are sports that require very high techniques, a little carelessness and the athlete will be eliminated from the qualifying round, not to mention the gold medal.

For competitive sports like martial arts, our level is not much better than other countries in the region and Asia. Vietnamese martial arts mainly focus on the small weight classes of 46-55kg.

For events that are calculated precisely by time such as athletics, swimming, rowing... Vietnamese sports currently have high hopes for the women's 4x400m relay (athletics). Even Nguyen Thi Oanh, although a legend in Southeast Asia (4 minutes 12 seconds in the 1,500m), to win an ASIAD medal, according to calculations, her performance must be under 4 minutes.

Therefore, the target range of 2-5 gold medals at ASIAD 19 of the Vietnamese Sports Delegation is reasonable, in my opinion."

Pham Quang Huy is the only athlete to bring home a gold medal for Vietnamese sports up to this point. Photo: Bui Luong

Up to now, Vietnamese sports have only won 1 gold medal from shooter Pham Quang Huy in shooting - men's 10m air pistol event.

With only one week left until the 19th ASIAD, many people are worried that the Vietnamese Sports Delegation will not be able to complete the set target, especially when athletes with hopes of winning gold medals such as Nguyen Thi Tam (boxing), Truong Thi Kim Tuyen (taekwondo), Trinh Thu Vinh (shooting)... do not achieve good results.

According to the competition schedule, the groups of sports expected to win gold, such as chess, karate or sepak takraw, are still taking place or will start in the next few days.

Therefore, at this time, experts, audiences and athletes themselves are waiting for positive results in the final days of competition at ASIAD 19. Lai Ly Huynh (chess), Dinh Thi Huong, Nguyen Thi Ngoan, Le Hong Phuc (karate) or the group of 4 female sepak takraw athletes will carry the hope of Vietnamese sports.

However, we should also recognize that competing for gold medals is very difficult because these are the strong sports of China, Korea, and even Thailand in Southeast Asia.

Laodong.vn