Ready for the National Sports Festival

(Baonghean) - There are still about 5 months until the 7th National Sports Festival - 2014 officially opens in Nam Dinh province. Up to this point, along with localities across the country, Nghe An athletes in all sports are working hard to practice, ready to prepare the best mentality to enter this competition.

Arriving at the Provincial Sports Training Center at 4 p.m. on a hot summer day, under the corrugated iron roof of the wushu team's training house, the atmosphere was still stuffy and hot. Under the direction of Coach Nguyen Van Hue - Head of Training Department, Head of Wushu Department, the athletes warmed up to start a training session of about 2 hours. Mr. Hue said: "Having taken place every 4 years and being the grand "launch" of the national championships, the National Sports Festival has a very fierce competition in terms of achievements. Compared to other martial arts such as traditional martial arts, boxing, pencak silat, karate, the achievements of wushu in previous Games were not as good.

However, in recent years, Nghe An wushu has made a lot of progress and has achieved high results in international tournaments such as the gold medal of athlete Nguyen Van Tai at the 2013 World Championship. In addition, the team also has outstanding factors such as Vi Van Manh, Nguyen Thi Thuy..., so we really hope to improve our achievements at this Congress. Currently, the team is both practicing and competing in a number of domestic tournaments to accumulate experience as well as learn about expertise". Athlete Vi Van Manh said: "This is the first time competing in a National Sports Festival, and was chosen as a key athlete, so this time, although the weather is not favorable, I and my teammates will try to practice to win a gold medal at the Congress".

Whusu team athletes practice in preparation for the tournament.

As for the teams that have to practice outdoors such as athletics, petanque, etc., it is much more difficult. With the determination to bring high results for the Nghe An sports delegation at the National Sports Festival, since the beginning of summer, athletes in these sports have been working hard to "endure the heat" under the hot sun and scorching Lao wind. Athlete Nguyen Thi Viet (petanque) said: "To have good results at this National Sports Festival is not easy, but everyone on the team is determined and tries their best to practice to not disappoint the coaching of the coach and the trust of the leadership. Hopefully, myself and my teammates will have the best health to compete effectively, contributing to the success of Nghe An sports".

At the 2014 National Sports Festival, Nghe An delegation is expected to participate with more than 180 athletes, including 31 key athletes, competing in 14 sports, including: football, sepak takraw, shuttlecock kicking, wrestling, athletics, taekwondo, karate, traditional martial arts, boxing, wushu, weightlifting, pencak silat, vovinam and petanque. The target of Nghe An delegation at this Festival is to rank 15-13th overall and to achieve that target, it must win 14-17 gold medals.

Mr. Lo Trung Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: "Nghe An Sports has had many years of successful competition at the National Sports Festival and left a very outstanding mark. 4 years ago, at the 6th National Sports Festival in 2010, Nghe An athletes competed fiercely with opponents from many major sports centers in the country such as: Army, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hanoi, Hai Phong..., especially in sports such as martial arts, shuttlecock kicking... The 7th National Sports Festival is predicted to be a fierce competition to win each medal, because the localities have prepared carefully and invested well for this launch. To achieve good results at the 7th National Sports Festival, we proactively organized the 7th Provincial Sports Festival in mid-May. Completing the Provincial Sports Festival will help us have time to prepare our forces to training for the sports competing at the 7th National Sports Festival. Investing in athletes to achieve the best results at the National Sports Festival is one of the key tasks of the industry in the last 6 months of 2014 and I realize that the active training of the teams is very commendable.

Currently, key sports such as traditional martial arts, boxing, wushu, weightlifting, pencak silat, shuttlecock kicking... are receiving investment attention from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The impressive performances and bravery of athletes at previous National Sports Festivals and recent domestic and international tournaments have made athletes in these sports have high expectations at the 7th National Sports Festival, especially martial arts.

The 7th National Sports Festival 2014 is approaching and will be a playground attracting many outstanding athletes in the national sports community. Hopefully, with its active preparation, Nghe An sports will achieve the desired results, affirming its position as a sports center in the North Central region.

Article and photos:Minh Quan