Nghe An athletes absent from SEA Games 30

In 2017, the Vietnamese Sports Delegation registered to compete in 32/38 sports with 300 events. Nghe An was honored to have 5 athletes competing in Malaysia, namely Nguyen Thi Quyen and Nguyen Thi My competing in Sepak Takraw, Nguyen Van Quang competing in Petanque, and Van Khanh and Tuan Tai participating in men's football. The largest number of athletes were still the sports delegations of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and the Army...

Outstanding athletes of Nghe An. Photo: Duc Anh

On October 11, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided to establish the Vietnamese Sports Delegation to participate in the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in the Philippines. Accordingly, Mr. Tran Duc Phan is the person responsible for the Head of the Delegation. At this congress, the list of the Vietnamese Sports Delegation includes 856 members in many different positions such as delegation officers, coaches, athletes, doctors, etc.

Of these, 650 members will participate with funding from the State budget, the remaining 206 members will participate with other funding. The Vietnamese sports delegation will compete in 43 out of 56 events and sub-events with the target of 70-72 gold medals, entering the top 3 of the entire delegation.

Athletics is the sport that dominates the list of Vietnamese sports delegation attending the SEA Games. However, the notable name in the long jump event is Bui Thi Thu Thao, who won gold medal at ASIAD 2018, but is not present. Apart from this absence, other gold hopes of Vietnamese sports such as Hoang Xuan Vinh (shooting), Nguyen Thi That (cycling), Nguyen Thi Anh Vien (swimming), Thach Kim Tuan (weightlifting), Ly Hoang Nam (tennis),... all attended in full.

Vang Thi Huyen Nhu - Thai May athlete who achieved many outstanding national achievements this time was also not called to compete in the SEA Games. Photo: Thanh Cuong

This year at the 30th SEA Games, only two athletes from Nghe An are present at the Southeast Asian Games. They are Pham Thi Hong Thanh in weightlifting and Nguyen Thi My in rattan-swinging. Athlete Pham Thi Hong Thanh is a representative face of Nghe An weightlifting in recent years. At the 2018 Games, Pham Thi Hong Thanh won 1 gold medal and 2 silver medals. Unfortunately, athlete Le Thi Tham (weightlifting) contributed 2 gold medals, 1 silver medal and broke 2 records of the Games but was not on the list to go to the Philippines.

The limited number of Nghe An athletes participating in the 30th SEA Games is reflecting the reality of Nghe An sports. Remember at the 8th National Sports Festival in 2018, Nghe An Sports delegation won 8 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 21 bronze medals, ranking 19th out of 65 provincial, municipal and sectoral sports delegations nationwide.

Sepak takraw is Nghe An's only hope in participating in this Sea Games. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The most regrettable thing is that some sports that used to be Nghe An’s strengths such as Taekwondo, Karate, Wushu, Boxing, Kick-boxing or Athletics are all absent from Nghe An athletes. The relatively new sports at this SEA Games such as basketball or eSport are also factors coming from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

In the recent summary, the Department of Culture and Sports also pointed out a number of limitations such as: Achievements have not been commensurate with the province's potential; expected athletes have unstable competition mentality; training facilities and injury treatment have not met requirements; there is no policy to retain excellent athletes and attract talented athletes to compete for Nghe An.

The list of athletes attending the 30th SEA Games still does not include male and female football players because the teams have not yet finalized the final names to be selected. In the Vietnam U22 team, the most promising player from Nghe An is center back Nguyen Van Hanh from Hai Phong Club. Song Lam Nghe An Club does not have any players on the current list of Vietnam U22. This is quite a big surprise because in the national team as well as in previous SEA Games, Nghe An football players have affirmed their names.

Recently, Coach Park Hang-seo has just added 5 national team players to the Vietnam U22 team, players like Nguyen Trong Hoang and Que Ngoc Hai also have the opportunity to participate in the SEA Games as additional players. And maybe, the number of Nghe An athletes participating in this regional Games will increase. However, with only 2 athletes registered, this is really a sad number. Looking at the neighboring provinces, Ha Tinh has 7 athletes and Thanh Hoa has 13 athletes.

Trung Kien