SEA Games 29: Each sport selects athletes differently

(Baonghean.vn) - It is very likely that athlete Lam Quang Nhat, who is the SEA Games record holder in the 1,500m freestyle event and has won gold medals in two consecutive SEA Games, will stay home and not participate in the 29th SEA Games if he is forced to compete internally.

Sports emphasize the spirit of fair play before talking about competition results. One of the things that always “make waves” at the SEA Games is the selection of athletes for the national team. The situation of “my army” and “your army” has caused many sports to leave heated debates before the start.

Recently, the 1,500m freestyle champion of the 28th SEA Games, Lam Quang Nhat, declared that he would stay home if he had to participate in the competition to select athletes to attend the 29th SEA Games.

"Waves" on the shore

Swimming is dominated by three names: Nguyen Huu Kim Son, Quang Nhat and Huy Hoang. Choosing who to compete in the 1,500 m event at the 29th SEA Games is a headache for the Vietnamese Sports Delegation. Lam Quang Nhat holds the SEA Games record of 15 minutes 31 seconds 03, while Nguyen Huy Hoang holds the national record of 15 minutes 30 seconds 11.

Recently, U16 swimmer Nguyen Huu Kim Son (An Giang) competed in the 1500m qualifying round of the 2017 World Championships with a time of 15 minutes 29 seconds 90 on July 29, breaking the records of the other two athletes.

Kim Son, an athlete who grew up in Ho Chi Minh City and joined An Giang, broke the SEA Games record and the national record at the world tournament. Photo: Internet

Therefore, the national swimming team's coaching board was confused about who to choose and who to leave out in the 1,500m event. The plan was to choose Nguyen Huu Kim Son because he had the highest achievement, while Quang Nhat and Huy Hoang had to compete to choose the second best, and the remaining person would still attend the 29th SEA Games but would participate in a different event.

On the afternoon of August 6, athlete Lam Quang Nhat refused to go to Phu Tho Swimming Club (HCMC) to compete in a "one-on-one" match with swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang. Lam Quang Nhat said: "I just returned from training and was at my peak during the week of the SEA Games. Now, I have to compete to compete for a spot in the SEA Games, which is unreasonable. Therefore, I decided not to participate. If I have to compete to participate in the 29th SEA Games, I would rather stay home."

The HCM City Sports Delegation believes that Quang Nhat has just started training so he cannot compete yet, because he needs to adjust and recover after the training trip in China. In addition, Mr. Mai Ba Hung also proposed Quang Nhat and Huy Hoang as the two swimmers to compete in the 1,500m event at the 29th SEA Games because of their high performance stability. In particular, Lam Quang Nhat is the SEA Games record holder in the 1,500m freestyle event, and has won gold medals in two consecutive SEA Games.

Faced with such reactions, the coaching board of the national swimming team decided that tomorrow (August 8), the three athletes will have to compete in a three-way match at the National Sports Training Center in Ho Chi Minh City. Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the Vietnam Aquatic Sports Association - Dinh Viet Hung proposed a softer plan: the three athletes Quang Nhat, Kim Son, and Huy Hoang will all participate in the 29th SEA Games.

Athlete Quang Nhat declared: "If I have to compete to attend the SEA Games, I'd rather stay home." Photo: Internet

At the "89th minute", the coaching staff will be the ones to decide who will compete in the 1,500m freestyle. Regarding the above internal "three-way" competition, Mr. Hung said that this is the coaching staff's own decision.

Fair-play table tennis

Learning from previous years, this year, Vietnam table tennis decided to select SEA Games athletes in a new way. That is, 4 men's singles semi-finalists and 4 women's singles semi-finalists of the national tournament will automatically be on the list to attend the SEA Games. The 5th athlete will be selected by the head coach, depending on the team's tactical calculations. A very public and clear way, the athletes must make an effort to win tickets to Malaysia.

With the new way of selecting SEA Games athletes of the table tennis team, the quarter-final matches of the men's and women's singles of the recent national table tennis tournament of Nhan Dan newspaper were more exciting than the final matches.

Faces including Dinh Quang Linh, Nguyen Anh Tu, Doan Ba ​​Tuan Anh, Nguyen Duc Tuan, Mai Hoang My Trang, Nguyen Khoa Dieu Khanh, Dinh Thi Hue, Vu Thi Ha were convincingly called up to the national team.

According to the regulations of the table tennis organizing committee at the 29th SEA Games 2017, the achievements of each country's athletes at the SEA Games 2 years ago will be used as the criteria for selecting seeds when drawing lots.

In Singapore, when competing in SEA Games 28-2015, Tuan Quynh won a bronze medal in men's doubles and Nguyen Thi Nga won a bronze medal in women's singles. Surely, they will be in the seed group for SEA Games 29-2017 if they are able to participate in Malaysia.

The selection of these two athletes was jointly considered by the leaders of the table tennis department (General Department of Sports and Physical Training) and the Vietnam Table Tennis Federation, and the coaching board. This approach has received a high consensus from the localities and participating athletes.

Clearly, it is time for athletes, coaches and sports officials to put national interests above personal interests, and publicly and transparently disclose selection criteria to choose the best athletes to participate in the SEA Games.

AT