VIETNAM UPDATED. The Vietnamese delegation has set a target of at
least four gold medals for judo veterans (ranking in the top two) and
is sending all “big names” to the forthcoming regional sports festival
in Myanmar next month. Report by Communist Party of Vietnam's online
newspaper.
Vietnam’s judo has shown good preparations in the last several months
with athletes participating in international competition and training
tours, as well as spending money for coaches to train abroad. At this
time, the national women's judo squad is training in China and will
return to the homeland on November 30.
Head coach of the national
judo squad Le Duy Hai said that the gap between Vietnam and its rival
is now narrow. So, there will be very strong race among top squads in
the upcoming matches.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Huu An, head of the judo
section under the General Department of Sports and Physical Training,
shared the news that the host country Myanmar has poured a lot of money
and time into its judo team, thus creating challenges for Vietnam and
other nations.
At this year’s SEA Games, judo will be a “marathon
event” for Vietnam as it is competing in 18 medal categories from
December 18-21.
With regard to force, Vietnam has high
expectations on “Judo Queen” Van Ngoc Tu, besides four athletes who
bagged gold medals at the previous SEA Games 2011.
She is now
mobilising all her energy for important battles. This is the 5th SEA
Games in which the Olympic athlete of London 2012 has participated.
The
national judo squad also welcomes the return of female athlete Nguyen
Thi Nhu Y who used to create a lot of “unpleasant swings” for rivals.
In
the kata event, there is a hope for Vietnam to pocket gold. Female
judokas Nguyen Hoang Cam Ha and Le Ngoc Van Anh attended a training
course in Japan from November 14-24.
Meanwhile, male judokas
Nguyen Thanh Tai and Nguyen Ngoc Son will depart for South Korea for
training from December 1-8. They won gold with “Nage nokata” performance
at SEA Games 25-2009.
Judo ("gentle way") is a modern martial
art, combat and Olympic sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano.
Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the
objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground,
immobilise or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an
opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke.
Strikes and
thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defence moves are part of
judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) and are not allowed in judo
competition or free practice (randori).
Wrestling team aims for 6 golds at SEA Games
Vietnam’s wrestling team expects to win 6 golds at the upcoming SEA Games scheduled to open in Myanmar on December 11.
Each country is allowed to compete in 12 out of 21 events at the maximum.
The
Vietnamese team had to lower its target for 8 golds at the previous
Games to 6 as some events for which Vietnam has registered will not be
held.
The female wrestlers which include Vu Thi Hang (48kg),
Nguyen Thi Lua (51kg) and former SEA Games champion Pham Thi Hue (55kg)
are likely to win at least 2 golds.
The male wrestlers also
include four incumbent SEA Games champions – Nguyen Huy Ha (55kg),
Nguyen The Anh (60kg), Bui Tuan Anh (66kg) and Can Tat Du (74kg).
Chief Coach Doi Dang Hy believes that they can win 3 golds.
vietnamnet.vn
