Promising face of Nghe An shuttlecock
(Baonghean.vn) - After world runner-up Le Cong Tai, young athlete Le Anh Duc is expected to continue his senior's success to bring glory to his province as well as the country in shuttlecock kicking.
From school tournament…
Born in 2005 in a family of self-employed businessmen in Le Loi ward (Vinh city), Le Anh Duc loved shuttlecock since his elementary school days. During recess or after school, Duc often played shuttlecock with his friends and showed outstanding agility and dexterity in this sport.
In 2015, while in 5th grade, Duc was chosen by his homeroom teacher to compete in shuttlecock kicking, men's doubles at the school's Phu Dong Sports Festival. Easily winning first prize, the boy was selected to join the school team to compete at the city's Phu Dong Sports Festival and won second prize.
Those early achievements made Duc's passion for shuttlecock grow stronger. When he reached junior high school, he asked his mother to let him practice shuttlecock with other talented athletes at the Provincial Sports Training and Coaching Center (now Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center).
After a period of training, Le Anh Duc caught the eye of shuttlecock coach Ton Quy Hoa. In early 2017, Duc was officially recruited into the shuttlecock department of Nghe An Sports and Physical Training Center.
In the early days of becoming a high-performance athlete, Le Anh Duc had to ensure both his academic studies and high-intensity training with the coaching staff, and at times felt very tired. In addition, there were also inevitable injuries during training. However, with passion and determination, Duc made efforts to overcome many difficult exercises, helping to improve his skills according to the training plan set out by the coaching staff.
Also in 2017, Le Anh Duc was able to test his strength in the first tournament, the national youth and junior shuttlecock tournament held in Thua Thien Hue province. Although he only won a Bronze Medal in the men's singles, this was a great motivation for Duc to feel no regrets for being passionate about shuttlecock and considering this sport as a part of his life. And the first Gold Medal was also won by this athlete, at the national beach shuttlecock championship held in Khanh Hoa province, also in 2017.
After that, Duc won 1 Gold Medal at the National Youth Championship in 2018, 2 Gold Medals at the National Strong Team Championship in 2019, 2021, also in the men's singles category. In addition, Duc also won 4 Silver Medals in these tournaments, in both the men's singles and men's doubles teams.
According to coach Ton Quy Hoa, not only is Le Anh Duc quick and skillful, he also has a high level of awareness and concentration in training, thanks to which his talent has developed very quickly. Duc's outstanding point is his ability to serve with high speed and accuracy, especially his ability to handle situations far from the net with good bounce.
Besides, Germany also has a strong spirit and mentality, and its tactical thinking is also very sharp. Against weaker opponents, Germany often attacks overwhelmingly from the beginning to end the match quickly, but against strong opponents, Germany proactively plays slowly, handles situations very flexibly, distributes strength reasonably and attacks sharply at decisive moments.
…to the Asian Gold Medal
Having performed impressively in domestic tournaments, in 2013, Le Anh Duc was selected to join the national youth team to compete in the Asian Youth Sepak Takraw Championship held in Hong Kong. In this first trip abroad, Duc competed in both the men's singles and men's doubles.
In the men's singles, after overcoming many strong opponents, Duc faced the Taiwanese athlete in the final. The match was evenly matched, with the two athletes competing for each point in the first set. After losing the first set with a score of 19-21, Duc quickly regained his composure, played overwhelmingly and won the next two sets with scores of 21-15, 21-13 to conquer the precious Gold Medal.
In addition, at this tournament, Germany also won 1 Silver Medal in the men's doubles team event.
Every day, being able to practice and stand on the field is a joy and happiness for me. And I feel very proud to have achieved my goal when I was selected to compete in the Asian Youth Championship. That is also the motivation to urge me to continue to compete with all my might, trying to achieve more achievements."
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Shuttlecock player Le Anh Duc (Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center).
Sticking with shuttlecock, Le Anh Duc has put in a lot of effort and overcome difficulties when the treatment for a shuttlecock player is actually very low. To achieve good results, Anh Duc has also received a lot of help and inspiration from teachers such as coach Ton Quy Hoa and teammates such as Nguyen Viet Hoang and Le Sy Khanh.
Talking about his friend, Nguyen Viet Hoang - an athlete who participated and won a Silver Medal in the doubles team event at the 2023 Asian Youth Championships said: "Duc is a very hard-working friend in training, and in life he gets along with everyone. In each tournament, we always encourage each other to try our best, compete well to bring the best results for our province."
Reaching the top is difficult, maintaining the top is even more difficult. Le Anh Duc has just turned 19 this year, still very young, the road ahead for this athlete is still full of potential and there are many other milestones to conquer. Duc's goal in 2024 is to defend the Gold Medal at the National Youth Championship, the National Beach Championship and especially the Asian Youth Championship held at home. In particular, Le Anh Duc will be an important factor for Nghe An at the National Sports Festival in 2026.
If he can maintain his development, Anh Duc can absolutely be a member of the National team participating in continental and world tournaments, following in the footsteps of his senior Le Cong Tai - a shuttlecock player from Nghe An who won a Silver Medal at the 2013 World Shuttlecock Championship. Hopefully, with his own efforts, Anh Duc will continue his successes and bring more glory and pride to Nghe An sports.
In the near future, I will study Physical Education at Vinh University. After I stop playing shuttlecock, I will become a physical education teacher, passing on my passion for sports to my students."
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Sepak Takraw player Le Anh Duc
