Two golden girls of Nghe An won the World Sepak Takraw Championship

The Sepak Takraw World Cup 2023 will take place in Thailand from July 9 to 16, bringing together 36 national and regional teams. With 33 members, the Vietnamese team will compete in all 4 men's and 4 women's events.

In the 4-person women's event, athletes Nguyen Thi My, Ngo Thi Ngoc Quynh (from Dien Chau - Nghe An), Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen, Tran Thi Ngoc Yen, Nguyen Thi Yen, Tran Thi Hong Nhung, competed excellently and implemented the coaching staff's tactics correctly.

In the group stage, the Vietnamese team was placed in a difficult group with Myanmar, South Korea and Japan. We defeated Myanmar and South Korea with a close score of 2-1; and also defeated Japan 2-0.

Entering the semi-finals as group winners, the Vietnamese Sepak Takraw team defeated Laos 2-0. In the final, we faced a very strong opponent, Indonesia. The players were very calm, carried out the coaching staff's tactics correctly, defended well and attacked very effectively.

All the blocks were executed very well. Faced with the changes and constant attacks of the Vietnamese Sepak Takraw Team, the Indonesian team fell into a passive position and lost with a score of 0-2. With convincing victories, the Vietnamese Sepak Takraw Team won the Sepak Takraw World Cup Championship.

Previously in 2022, the Vietnamese women's sepak takraw team defeated Thailand to win the 4-person World Championship.

In addition to the Gold Medal in the 4-person women's event, the Vietnamese Sepak Takraw team also won a Silver Medal in the men's hoop event (jumping the shuttlecock into the net in the air), a Bronze Medal in the women's hoop event; a Silver Medal in the 4-person men's team event, a Bronze Medal in the 3-person women's team event; and a Silver Medal in the 3-person team event.

Contributing to the overall achievements of the Vietnam Sepak Takraw Team are two girls from Nghe An, Nguyen Thi My (born in 1998) and Ngo Thi Ngoc Quynh (born in 2000), both from Dien Chau district and both veteran athletes of Sepak Takraw from Nghe An.

In particular, Nguyen Thi My (from Dien Tan commune) has been a member of the Vietnam National Sepak Takraw Team for more than 8 years, winning the Gold Medal at the 2016 Asian Beach Tournament and especially the Gold Medal at the 2022 World Championship, along with many Silver Medals at world tournaments, ASIAD, SEA Games, and Gold Medals at domestic tournaments.

As for Ngo Thi Ngoc Quynh (from Dien Hoa commune), it was not until the beginning of this year that she was called up to the National Team. Although she has won many high achievements in domestic tournaments, the 2023 Asian Sepak Takraw Championship is the first major tournament she has participated in with the National Team.

At the Asian Sepak Takraw Championship last June, both girls from Nghe An made great efforts to contribute to the 2 Gold Medals of the Vietnamese Women's Sepak Takraw Team.

Sharing with Nghe An Newspaper after winning the World Cup Sepak Takraw Championship with the Vietnamese Sepak Takraw Team, Ngo Thi Ngoc Quynh said:''The Sepak Takraw World Cup Championship in Thailand is a new journey for me. This is the first world tournament I have participated in before joining the National Team. My feelings before participating in the tournament were very happy, nervous but also very proud. Everything was very surprising for me, when I was chosen by the coaching staff to compete in the 4-person women's team, and won the Gold Medal in this event.

Talking about her goals after the tournament, Ngoc Quynh said:My goal after this tournament is the National Championship held in Nghe An next October. This is the last tournament of 2023, so I will try my best with the whole team to achieve the best results for my home province."

The precious Gold Medal at the World Championship is a great motivation for Nguyen Thi My and Ngo Thi Ngoc Quynh and the Vietnamese Sepak Takraw Team to be confident in the 19th ASIAD tournament in August 2023. Currently, the two girls from Nghe An are still training in Thailand, and will return home in early August.

At this year's Asian Games, Sepak Takraw is restricted, each country is only allowed to register to compete in 2/3 of the events. Vietnam has the ability to compete for the Gold Medal in the 4-person team event. At the 18th ASIAD, Vietnam won the Silver Medal in the 4-person team event and with the World Gold Medal just won, we have the right to hope to change the medal color at the 19th ASIAD./.