Story of the promising young duo of Nghe An rattan ball
(Baonghean.vn) - Born and raised in two communes more than ten kilometers apart, with personalities that do not have many things in common, but their passion for sports has helped Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh work together for the past 5 years and become a promising couple of Nghe An's rattan ball.
Two personalities, one quality
In the first contact with Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh, based on their appearance, perhaps no one would think that this is a compatible duo on the sepak takraw court from 2018 until now. If Thao, like most other female sepak takraw athletes, has a boyish short haircut, Oanh still has long, feminine hair. And while Thao is shy and quiet, Oanh is quick-witted, often answering on behalf of her friend. Both also said that their preferences in clothing, music, etc. are different. But both admitted that "although our personalities are different, we rarely have conflicts and are especially compatible when competing together".
Born in 2007 in Dien Chau district and both the youngest children, while Thao grew up in a farming family in Dien Tan commune, Oanh's parents worked in the salt industry in Dien Kim commune. But whether farmers or salt workers, the common point of these two young athletes' families is that their lives were relatively difficult, both Thao and Oanh's parents wanted their children to escape the fields and salt fields to find another career. Perhaps that's why the path to professional sports of the couple did not encounter family barriers like other athletes with better conditions.
Both Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh showed their athletic qualities since their primary school years. Due to their difficult family circumstances, Thao and Oanh were small and dark-skinned. In return, both were agile, flexible, and skillful. These qualities were revealed when they played shuttlecock with friends during breaks in the school yard. Thanks to that, in 2018, when they were in grade 5, Thao and Oanh were both selected to join the school shuttlecock team to participate in the Phu Dong Sports Festival at the commune level, then at the district level.
In early 2018, both were selected to join the Dien Chau district shuttlecock team to compete in the Phu Dong Sports Festival at the district cluster level. Although they were not allowed to compete in the Phu Dong Sports Festival at the provincial level that year, both caught the attention of coach Ho Minh Thuan during a military recruitment trip. This female shuttlecock coach of the Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center went to both students' homes and did not have much difficulty convincing their parents to let their children go to Vinh city for concentrated training to become high-performance athletes.
In June 2018, after finishing 5th grade, Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh packed their bags and went to Vinh, officially becoming young athletes of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center.
In our hometown, we had never heard of shuttlecock and thought that shuttlecock was as easy to play as rattan ball. But when we came to the center, we realized that rattan ball is much more difficult to practice than shuttlecock. The ball is bigger, rounder and has a higher bounce, the shoes and techniques are also completely different. Therefore, it was not until early 2019, after nearly half a year of practice, that we basically got acquainted with the techniques of this sport," Thao and Oanh shared.
Achievements and expectations
After a period of training, Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh were assigned to play in two different positions. While Thao played as a setter, Oanh was tasked with attacking.
In July 2019, at the age of 12, Thao and Oanh were tested in their first tournament, the National Youth Sepak Takraw Championship held in Dong Thap province. Although neither of them were given a medal target by the coaching staff, the pair won a Bronze Medal in the Doubles category at this tournament.
A year later, at the 2020 National Youth Sepak Takraw Championship held in Dong Nai province, Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh also won a Bronze Medal in the Doubles Team event. Also in the same year, these two athletes continued to compete together in the 3-woman team event at the National Beach Sepak Takraw Championship held in Da Nang city and won a Silver Medal.
In 2021, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the domestic Sepak Takraw tournaments were canceled. It was not until the end of the year that the only Sepak Takraw tournament took place, the National Beach Sepak Takraw Championship held in Cua Lo town. In this tournament, Thao and Oanh competed together in the 3-women team and 4-women team events and won 1 Silver Medal and 1 Bronze Medal.
In July 2022, after 4 years of becoming professional athletes, at the age of 15, Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh won the Gold Medal in the women's doubles team event at the National Youth Sepak Takraw Championship held in Thua Thien - Hue province. In addition, these two athletes also won 1 Silver Medal and 1 Bronze Medal in the 2 competitions of Team 4 and Team 3 respectively. Previously, at the 2022 National Beach Sepak Takraw Championship held in Khanh Hoa province, Thao and Oanh won 1 Silver Medal in the Team 3 event.
At the end of 2022, after many years of waiting, Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh were able to play at the highest level of national sepak takraw competition, the 9th National Sports Festival. Due to their youngest age in the Nghe An women's sepak takraw team, both Thao and Oanh were only allowed to compete in team events. However, both athletes from Dien Chau also competed very hard, contributing to helping the Nghe An sepak takraw team win 1 Silver Medal in the 4-team event and 2 Bronze Medals in the 3-team and doubles events.
In 2023, Truong Thanh Thao - Dao Thi Kim Oanh continued to compete together at the National Youth Sepak Takraw Championship and the National Beach Sepak Takraw Championship. And this duo affirmed their breakthrough when winning 1 Gold Medal in the doubles event, 1 Silver Medal in the 3-team event and 1 Bronze Medal in the mixed team event at the National Youth Sepak Takraw Championship; 1 Gold Medal in the 4-team event, 2 Silver Medals in the 3-team and 4-team events.
The only tournament the pair did not compete in together was the 2023 National Club Sepak Takraw Championship, where Thao won 1 Gold Medal in the doubles event and 1 Bronze Medal in the mixed team event.
According to coach Hoang Huu Nghia - Head of the Sepak Takraw Department of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center, in the Nghe An women's Sepak Takraw team, there are currently 3 generations of athletes who have made their mark. Representing the first generation are veteran athletes Nguyen Thi Quyen, Nguyen Thi Hoa, Nguyen Thi Mo, Tran Hong Nhung. The second generation are the National players.Nguyen Thi My,Ngo Thi Ngoc Quynhand the third generation is represented by Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh.
“Both Thao and Oanh have maintained their spirit and attitude towards training seriously and enthusiastically, and have increasingly improved their techniques, tactical thinking, and especially played very well together. Thanks to that, both have achieved good results when competing together in youth tournaments. The current weakness of both is their unstable competitive mentality, however, this can be overcome in the near future to be able to follow in the footsteps of their seniors' achievements," said coach Hoang Huu Nghia.
Currently, Truong Thanh Thao and Dao Thi Kim Oanh are working hard to prepare for the National Sepak Takraw Championship taking place at the end of October in their home province. Although the coaching staff has not set specific targets for the athletes, I believe that with the progress of Thao and Oanh, they will have good results, not only in team events but also in team events."