Vietnamese sports attend SEA Games 33 with 1,000 members

Determining that the 33rd SEA Games taking place in Thailand in December is an important task in 2025, Vietnamese sports have made careful preparations to maintain their leading position in the region.

K AFFIRM POSITION

Speaking at the recent meeting of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Olympic Committee for the 2021-2026 term in Hanoi, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Chairman of the Vietnam Olympic Committee Nguyen Van Hung emphasized that Vietnamese sports need to focus highly on preparing forces for the 33rd SEA Games, because this is an important congress, demonstrating the strength of Vietnamese sports. The Minister also noted that Vietnamese sports need to choose to invest in sports aimed at ASIAD and the Olympics, effectively promoting sports in which they have advantages. "In addition to state-managed centers, it is necessary to closely coordinate with sports federations and associations to strengthen training and discover talents. From mass movements, put them into training, focus efforts and do better in managing athletes, creating conditions for them to compete and bring glory to the country's sports", said Minister Nguyen Van Hung.

Vietnamese athletics (left) will compete fiercely with host Thailand at the 33rd SEA Games.

PHOTO: KHA HOA

At the last two SEA Games, Vietnamese sports ranked first overall and had the largest number of participating members. At the 32nd SEA Games held in 2023 in Cambodia, the Vietnamese sports delegation participated with 1,003 members, winning 136 gold medals, 105 silver medals, and 114 bronze medals. At the upcoming 33rd SEA Games, the sports industry plans to register to participate with 1,000 members. Mr. Nguyen Danh Hoang Viet, Director of the Vietnam Sports and Physical Training Department, said that identifying the 33rd SEA Games as a key task, in recent times, the Sports and Physical Training Department has strengthened direction and coordination with related units to best prepare in terms of forces, ensuring training work with the goal of maintaining its position in the SEA Games arena.

Fierce competition

Thailand (host of SEA Games 33) has set the number of events to 50, 13 more than SEA Games 32. However, the number of events this time is less than the SEA Games 2 years ago (274 compared to 283). The host country has reduced the number of events in the events, including the strengths of Vietnamese sports, so the competition is expected to be very fierce. That is also the reason why the Vietnamese sports delegation set a modest target of winning 75 - 85 gold medals at SEA Games 33.

The preparation for the 33rd SEA Games of the Vietnamese sports delegation has been carried out since last year, focusing on key sports including athletics, swimming, shooting, weightlifting, taekwondo, gymnastics, cycling, boxing, archery, fencing, judo, badminton, rowing, karate, sepak takraw, wushu, wrestling... In addition to focusing on training at national sports training centers nationwide, a number of key athletes of the sports have also been strengthened with training and international competitions to improve their skills, accumulate experience, and hone their skills. Specialized departments of the Department of Sports and Physical Training such as the High Performance Sports Department have also been active in management work so that the sports are invested in the right people, the right jobs, and with the highest efficiency. In particular, hiring good experts and applying science and technology to training are also focused on to improve athletes' achievements.

Despite many years of dominating the region in athletics, Vietnamese sports are under great competitive pressure from other countries, especially host Thailand. At the 32nd SEA Games, Thailand surpassed Vietnam, winning 16 gold medals in athletics. In the transition period, Vietnamese athletics is expected to find it difficult to regain the number 1 position in the region. Similarly in swimming, since Nguyen Thi Anh Vien retired from the track, the Vietnamese swimming team has been increasingly left behind by Singapore in the rankings, and is also under competitive pressure from Thailand and Indonesia. In weightlifting, Vietnam is gradually losing its position in the competition with Indonesia and Thailand. With good preparation of forces, focusing on investing in new talent, Vietnamese sports can promise to create a breakthrough for its ambitions not only in the SEA Games arena but also in the continent and the world .

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/the-thao-viet-nam-tham-du-sea-games-33-voi-1000-thanh-vien-185250606212351343.htm