Vietnam Sports Delegation and the goal of winning 2-5 Gold Medals at ASIAD 19

The Vietnamese delegation will participate in 31 sports with 202 events at the 19th ASIAD in Hangzhou (China), with the goal of winning from 2 to 5 gold medals.

The departure ceremony of the Vietnamese sports delegation to the 19th ASIAD. (Source: Thanh Nien)

The 19th Asian Games will take place from September 23 to October 8 in Hangzhou, China. However, the football event at the Asian Games will begin on September 19, when the Vietnamese Olympic team will face Mongolia in Group B at 3 p.m.

This year's Asian Games will organize 40 sports, divided into 61 sub-events with a total of 483 competitions/medal sets. The Vietnamese sports delegation will participate in 31 sports with 202 competitions.

337 Vietnamese athletes will participate in 31 competitions including karate, sepak takraw, boxing, shooting, chess, rowing, wushu, kurash, athletics, archery, canoeing, swimming, taekwondo, chess, cycling, gymnastics, weightlifting, table tennis, roller, wrestling, judo, jujitsu, fencing, volleyball, badminton, golf, football, tennis, soft tennis, e-sports, dance sport breaking.

At the 18th ASIAD in Indonesia in 2018, the Vietnamese team won 5 gold medals, including 3 gold medals in Olympic events: rowing (a 4-person boat team including Luong Thi Thao, Ho Thi Ly, Pham Thi Thao and Ta Thanh Huyen) and athletics (Bui Thi Thu Thao in the women's long jump and Quach Thi Lan in the women's 400m hurdles). The pencak silat team won 2 gold medals from Nguyen Van Tri and Tran Dinh Nam.

At this year's 19th Asian Games, pencak silat was not included in the competition program. In addition, Quach Thi Lan also did not participate in the women's 400m hurdles event.

Among the sports that can compete for gold medals, the Vietnamese women's sepak takraw team has high expectations as they have just won the world championship in the 4-a-side event.

In boxing, the current world runner-up Nguyen Thi Tam has high hopes. After suffering an injury that forced her to withdraw from the 32nd SEA Games, Nguyen Thi Tam is recovering well and is ready for the 19th ASIAD.

Karate is a key sport for the Vietnamese delegation at the 19th ASIAD. The Vietnamese karate team just won the gold medal in the women's team kumite event at the 32nd SEA Games and the Asian Championship.

Although not expected to win a medal, football still receives great attention from fans. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan's Vietnam Olympic team will face Mongolia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in Group B and is expected to repeat the achievement of reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Games of Coach Park Hang Seo and his team in 2018.

Coach Mai Duc Chung's women's football team is in Group D with Japan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. At the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, the Vietnamese women's team reached the quarterfinals and lost to Taiwan (China) on penalties.

The goals of the Vietnamese sports delegation in 3 groups of competitions:

- Group 1 (5 sports): The group of sports with the potential to win gold medals at the 19th Asian Games includes sepak takraw, karate, shooting, boxing, and chess.

- Group 2 (18 sports): The group of sports with the potential to win silver and bronze medals at the 19th Asiad includes rowing, wushu, kurash, athletics, archery, canoeing, swimming, taekwondo, chess, cycling, gymnastics, weightlifting, table tennis, roller skating, wrestling, judo, jujitsu, fencing.

- Group 3 (8 sports): The group of sports that are unlikely to win medals at the 19th Asiad includes football, women's volleyball, badminton, tennis, golf, dance-sport breaking, esports, and soft tennis.