SEA Games 29: Archery pioneer takes gold

(Baonghean.vn) - On August 16, the teamThe archery team will be the first to compete at theSEA Games 29. According to Nghe An Newspaper's correspondent in Malaysia, all preparations for the competition day have been completed and we will most likely have our first gold medal on the opening day.

On August 14, Coach Cap Manh Tan and his team arrived in Malaysia to prepare for the archery competition starting from August 16 to 22. According to the competition schedule, the three-string bow event will take place from August 16 to 19, while the athletes in the single-string bow event will compete from August 19 to 22.

Before arriving in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the team had the chance to compete with strong opponents at the continental and world levels in three international tournaments: the Asian Cup in Thailand in March and two preliminary qualifying rounds for the World Cup in China and the US in May and June. Loc Thi Dao's gold medal in the one-string bow event at the 2017 Asian Cup is an affirmation of the class of the athlete from Bac Giang.

Archer Nguyen Tien Cuong will likely be the first person to win a gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation. Photo: Internet

In addition, fans have full confidence in the three-string bow event with the participation of veteran athlete Nguyen Tien Cuong, who won gold medals in this event at the 27th and 28th SEA Games. Up to now, Nguyen Tien Cuong is the most senior athlete in the Vietnamese archery community.

Four years ago, he was the one who set the first milestone for Vietnamese archery in the SEA Games arena with a gold medal at the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar. That was also the first individual medal of Vietnamese archery in the international arena.

Two years later, he continued to contribute one gold medal among the two gold medals of the Vietnamese delegation in Singapore. The three-string bow event is gradually becoming a strong event of Vietnamese archery. The main opponents waiting for Nguyen Tien Cuong in Malaysia include archers from Thailand, the Philippines and host Malaysia.

The archery team will have two missions: to win the first gold medal for the Vietnamese delegation at the 29th SEA Games, and at the same time set a target of completing 5 gold medals at this year's regional congress. The archery team will participate in the 29th SEA Games with 16 athletes, competing in 2 events: single-string bow and triple-string bow to compete for 10 sets of medals.

SEA Games 29 competition schedule of the Vietnamese sports delegation. Photo: Internet.

There is archer Nguyen Tien Cuong competing in the 3-string bow category, the rest in the 1-string bow category. Apart from the 2 names mentioned above, the remaining athletes in the team, if they compete confidently and focus, can also win medals because they will not have to bear much pressure to achieve results.

Before the competition day, head coach Cap Manh Tan said: “We are trying to keep the athletes mentally stable and always create a happy atmosphere in the team, because in this sport, if the athletes' mentality is disturbed, the results will not be as expected. 5 gold medals is the goal our team set before going to Kuala Lumpur.”

AT