Beach objects expected to become "breakthrough spearhead"

With professional advantages, favorable natural conditions and high socialization potential, beach wrestling is expected by sports managers to become a breakthrough spearhead in the journey of regional and international integration.

Initial advantage

Although still a new content, beach wrestling is gradually becoming a bright spot in the long-term development strategy of wrestling in Vietnam.

Beach sports have great potential for development in Vietnam.

Last June, Vietnam hosted the 2025 Asian Youth Wrestling Championship for the first time at The Grand Ho Tram Resort, the coastal city of Ba Ria - Vung Tau (formerly, now Ho Chi Minh City). This event attracted nearly 1,000 athletes, coaches, officials and referees from 24 countries. The success of the tournament came not only from the professional quality or professionalism in the organization, but also from the special highlight: the entire organization cost was paid by socialized enterprises.

"This is unprecedented for wrestling. At the above tournament, beach wrestling was a new event but attracted great attention from localities and businesses. The recent Asian Youth Championship is a clear demonstration of the socialization potential of this sport, including beach wrestling," said Mr. Ta Dinh Duc, in charge of wrestling under the Vietnam Sports Administration and General Secretary of the Vietnam Wrestling Federation.

According to Mr. Duc, beach wrestling is suitable for the development orientation of both mass sports and high-performance sports. Not requiring a fixed competition ground or sophisticated equipment like classical wrestling or freestyle wrestling, beach wrestling can be organized on any beach, stretching from North to South, even just needing a sand-covered field. With just a simple sand circle and a light competition uniform, tournaments can be easily deployed in many localities, especially those with potential for sea tourism.

The managers of Vietnamese wrestling also determined that beach wrestling is not only a competition, but a comprehensive development direction. There, it serves the wrestling movement, promotes the local image, attracts tourists and builds the national sea sports brand. With those factors, they are confident that beach wrestling has a lot of potential to go far.

In terms of expertise, beach wrestling is not too unfamiliar to freestyle and classical wrestling athletes. The competition rules are simpler, the time is shorter (only 3 minutes/match so it is completely suitable for the physical condition of Vietnamese athletes), high entertainment value, and at the same time requires technique and quick reflexes. Not to mention, the technique of this sport has many similarities with traditional wrestling, so it helps Vietnamese athletes adapt quickly. This explains why the U17 Vietnamese wrestlers won 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal at the recent Asian Youth Beach Wrestling Championship.

"We are leading the region in this event, and if we invest properly, I believe Vietnam can completely reach out to the continent, even the world. More importantly, beach wrestling opens up more opportunities for young athletes to compete internationally. They have more playgrounds, practice and gain experience without having to depend on traditional wrestling competitions," Mr. Duc analyzed.

Take advantage of the first mover advantage

Another noteworthy point is that the wrestling managers in Vietnam, the Vietnam Wrestling Federation, are promoting the strategy of developing beach wrestling in the direction of professionalism. Plans to organize more tournaments in the country, especially in coastal provinces, are being implemented.

Previously, from 2022, the first national beach wrestling championship was held in Sam Son (Thanh Hoa) and has been maintained until now. Another notable point is that beach wrestling has also been named in the competition program of the 10th National Sports Congress in 2026. This is considered another advantage for the development of beach wrestling in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, in the world, the competition system of beach wrestling is quite stable with world and continental tournaments. Currently, this sport is also being campaigned to be included in the Asian Games (ASIAD) or Youth Olympics. And of course, in Southeast Asia, there are also certain moves to include beach wrestling in the SEA Games competition program. "This is a sport that fits the new trend: Simple, attractive, audience-friendly and highly international. Therefore, the possibility of beach wrestling being named in the above playgrounds in the near future is also quite high," Mr. Ta Dinh Duc shared more.

That is also the reason why wrestling managers in Vietnam grasped and quickly built up forces and tournament systems for this sport. Currently, building a force of young athletes specialized in beach wrestling instead of just transferring athletes from traditional wrestling, classical wrestling, and freestyle wrestling has also been considered. Meanwhile, at the continental level, Vietnamese athletes are in the top group, with a significant advantage over many other countries.

According to Mr. Duc, Vietnam’s biggest advantage is its long coastline, and many provinces and cities have experience in organizing marine sports events. In the context of sports needing to innovate organizational models and expand social resources, beach wrestling is considered a favorable starting point.

That is also a path that needs attention, especially when Vietnamese wrestlers in indoor wrestling (classical, freestyle) have not been able to create remarkable milestones in the continent and the world in recent years. Everyone is still only satisfied with continental medals or tickets to the Olympics and cannot think further when resources and human resources are limited. And in such a situation, beach wrestling has emerged as an option to bring Vietnamese wrestling to continental gold medals...

After the Asian youth tournament, the managers also consider hosting the Asian Beach Wrestling Championship from socialized sources. And in the long term, Vietnam will be positioned to host major events in the Asian wrestling village.

It is not by chance that Vietnamese wrestling managers are confident that beach wrestling will not only develop as a side event, but can completely become a new symbol of Vietnamese sports in the international arena. The most important thing is that this sport is invested in the right direction and has a long-term strategy along with the support of businesses.

With the first impressive steps at the Asian Youth Championship, along with strong support from the management system and businesses, beach wrestling is on its way to becoming a modern sport with a solid position in the Vietnamese sports community. At the same time, it meets the criteria of being dynamic, attractive, accessible and ready for international integration of emerging sports in the world sports community.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/vat-bai-bien-ky-vong-tro-thanh-mui-nhon-dot-pha-i777243/