From Hanoi T&T to CAND

If the Hanoi T&T Football Club was established in 2006 (in 2016, the name was changed to Hanoi, the most successful club in the history of Vietnamese professional football), then one year later, Mr. Hien, as Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of T&T Group, established the Hanoi T&T Table Tennis Club in October 2007 with 100% investment capital from T&T Group.

SEA Games Gold Medal after 26 years

With modern equipment as well as constant investment and innovation to suit the general development trend, after nearly 20 years of operation with the criteria of developing and training professional athletes, Hanoi T&T Table Tennis Club has trained names such as: Tran Tuan Quynh, Phan Huy Hoang, Nguyen Ngoc Tu, Dinh Anh Hoang, Le Dinh Duc, Tran Mai Ngoc..., champions of Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Dinh Anh Hoang - Tran Mai Ngoc excellently won the 2023 SEA Games table tennis gold medal.

Most notably, at the 2023 SEA Games, Dinh Anh Hoang and Tran Mai Ngoc excellently brought Vietnamese table tennis the SEA Games mixed doubles gold medal after 26 years of waiting since Vu Manh Cuong and Ngo Thu Thuy won at the 1997 SEA Games.

Behind this precious gold medal is the figure of coach Vu Manh Cuong and above all, the figure of Mr. Hien. Why?

Because, Vu Manh Cuong is a big name of Vietnamese table tennis. He is not only a 7-time Vietnamese champion, but also a player who brought Vietnamese table tennis 3 SEA Games gold medals, including two gold medals in men's singles (1995, 2001) and one gold medal in mixed doubles (1997). In 2008, while holding the position of head of the department and head coach of the table tennis team of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Duong , Mr. Cuong surprised everyone when he transferred to become the coach of the Hanoi T&T Table Tennis Club, and Mai Ngoc and Anh Hoang were two talents he discovered and trained.

Tran Mai Ngoc was born in 2004 in Binh Duong (old), her father passed away when she was 2 years old, her mother worked as a garment worker. It was coach Vu Manh Cuong who discovered and convinced Mai Ngoc's family to let her go to Hanoi to join Hanoi T&T when Mai Ngoc was only 9 years old. Eight years later, in 2021, Mai Ngoc shone. At the national championship, Mai Ngoc successively surpassed two "monuments" of Vietnam, Mai Hoang My Trang and Phan Hoang Tuong Giang, to win the national championship. At the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam, Mai Ngoc won 2 bronze medals in the women's doubles and women's team. At the 32nd SEA Games, Mai Ngoc changed the color of her medal from bronze to... gold!

Meanwhile, Dinh Anh Hoang, 23 years old this year, the team's bright star but born in Dak Lak, is also a discovery of the Hanoi T&T training center. Anh Hoang and Mai Ngoc won the mixed doubles gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games and Anh Hoang also won the national men's singles championship in 2025.

Mr. Hien awarded Mai Ngoc and Anh Hoang each 250 million VND after winning the 2023 SEA Games gold medal.

Through this information, Hanoi T&T's investment and development strategy for table tennis is very similar to football: Discovering and training talented young athletes, making use of talents across the country, and at the same time "hunting" for good managers and highly qualified coaches.

The word "Vision" goes with the word "Heart"

It would be a huge omission to only talk about "Vision" without mentioning Mr. Hien's "Heart" in the formation and development process of Hanoi T&T Table Tennis Club as well as CAND - T&T.

The 2025 National Men's Team Gold Medal of CAND - T&T highlighted the name of Le Dinh Duc. Duc not only had victories that contributed to the men's team gold medal, but above all, Duc overcame himself, overcame the fate that seemed to have "knocked him out" 12 years ago.

Born in 1999 in Dak Nong (old), Duc was discovered by coach Manh Cuong in 2009 and brought to Hanoi T&T for training. But in 2013, for unknown reasons, Duc's limbs atrophied, and then the doctor diagnosed him with idiopathic ankylosing spondylitis. This disease not only takes away his ability to move, but can also leave Duc with a life of disability if not treated promptly.

Tennis player Le Dinh Duc overcame the harsh challenges of his life thanks to the help of Mr. Hien.

Knowing the story through coach Manh Cuong's report, very decisively, Mr. Hien decided to treat Duc at all costs, even though Duc might not be able to play anymore, but hoped Duc could return to living like a normal person.

After that, it was a journey of overcoming many difficulties of Duc, of the Hanoi T&T team together to support Duc and behind was the absolute financial support of "spiritual father" Do Quang Hien. Then, Duc gradually recovered and today, with his efforts to contribute to the 2025 national men's team gold medal, that was the most meaningful thank you that Duc sent to his teachers, teammates, leaders and above all, Mr. Hien.

New position of CAND - T&T table tennis

The CAND - T&T Table Tennis Club was established on May 23, 2024 after the Vietnam CAND Sports Association and T&T Group signed a memorandum of understanding on the selection and training of table tennis athletes to compete for the CAND force.

Immediately after that, CAND - T&T Club participated in the 2024 National Table Tennis Championship in Nha Trang. Although only aiming to win 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal, and 1 bronze medal, the whole team excelled in exceeding the target by winning 2 gold medals and 3 silver medals.

At the 2025 National Table Tennis Championship, if in previous years, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were two forces fiercely competing for the top spot in the medal table, this year, the CAND - T&T delegation replaced Hanoi's position to compete equally with Ho Chi Minh City.

Of the 7 medals of the tournament, the CAND - T&T delegation and Ho Chi Minh City shared 6 gold medals. Of which, CAND - T&T won the championship in 3 categories: men's team, men's doubles, men's singles; Ho Chi Minh City won the championship in 3 categories: women's team, women's doubles and mixed doubles. The remaining gold medal in women's singles belonged to Hanoi.

Not only focusing on top achievements, CAND - T&T table tennis also invests in the lower levels. That is the reason why at the 2024 national youth, youth and children's tournament, CAND - T&T excellently won the first place overall with 13 gold medals, 7 silver medals and 10 bronze medals even though the target was only 8 gold medals. The first place overall achievement was repeated in 2025.

As the person who has been with the Hanoi T&T Club the longest and most closely since 2008, and then the CAND - T&T Club since May 2024 until now, Coach Vu Manh Cuong said that it is the attention of the leaders of the CAND as well as the T&T Group and the solidarity and mutual guidance from the coaching staff to the athletes between the CAND and Hanoi T&T Clubs that has created a double strength for the cooperation of the two clubs with the new name: CAND - T&T Table Tennis Club.

A typical example of the success of this cooperation is the case of 15-year-old CAND tennis player Nguyen Van Tuan Anh. Through training from Hanoi T&T coaches, Tuan Anh has made remarkable progress when in 2025 he won the Southeast Asian youth men's doubles championship and won 3 gold medals in men's singles, men's doubles and men's team at the Vietnam youth, youth and children's championship.

Success from "Heart - Vision - Finance"

The success of table tennis from Hanoi T&T to CAND - T&T besides "Heart" and "Vision", there is another "T", which is "Money".

After the excellent performance at the 2025 National Championship, T&T Group awarded the CAND - T&T Club 1.26 billion VND.

But this is not the first time T&T Group has awarded such a large amount of money, even the largest in the country in table tennis. Previously, on August 1, 2024, T&T Group also awarded nearly 1.5 billion VND to coaches and athletes of the CAND - T&T Club with excellent achievements in national tournaments in 2024.

Previously, T&T Group also awarded 1.15 billion VND to athletes and coaches when the Vietnamese table tennis team won 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal and 4 bronze medals at the 2023 SEA Games.

The above figures show that professional sports in general and table tennis in particular cannot develop without abundant finance. Finance is the foundation and driving force for development, but a lot of money does not necessarily bring success.

CAND-T&T Table Tennis Club received awards after achievements at the 2025 National Table Tennis Tournament.

Because just like football, Mr. Hien is not only passionate about table tennis, but he is also willing to persistently invest from zero so that after nearly 20 years, the CAND - T&T Table Tennis Club is always in the top 3 in the country, along with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. At the same time, the Club is always at the top of youth tournaments and contributes many key players to the Vietnam table tennis team.

Mr. Hien once said that investing in training athletes in China, the country with the world's number 1 table tennis, has helped CAND - T&T athletes make remarkable progress, in which Dinh Anh Hoang has excellently overthrown the "domination" of his senior Nguyen Anh Tu (Hanoi) to win the men's singles championship for the first time with a 4-1 victory in the final match of the 2025 National Championship.

Along with Anh Hoang, CAND - T&T Club also contributed two players Le Dinh Duc and Tran Mai Ngoc to the Vietnam table tennis team at SEA Games 2025. The remaining 7 national players belong to three delegations: Hai Phong (3 athletes), Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (each delegation has 2 athletes).

It was Mr. Hien, and no one else, who created fierce and fair competition between the top table tennis centers in Vietnam, thereby contributing greatly to the overall achievements of Vietnamese table tennis in the Southeast Asian arena.

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Finally, Mr. Hien affirmed that he will continue to accompany and invest in CAND - T&T Club with the desire to contribute more to the development of Vietnamese table tennis. A consistent viewpoint of Mr. Hien is that everything he does is aimed at contributing to the national sports of Vietnam.

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