On April 30, 2024, Vietnamese sports received good news when badminton player Le Duc Phat officially won a ticket to participate in the men's singles badminton event at the 2024 Olympics. This athlete born in 1998 is the 10th Vietnamese player on the list to attend the Paris Olympics.
Ranked 74th in the world and 34th in the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifiers, Le Duc Phat and Vietnamese badminton fans did not dare to celebrate early but waited for the results to be announced by the Badminton World Federation and the International Olympic Committee. When the official announcement was that he had a ticket to the Olympics, Vietnamese badminton fans in general and Le Duc Phat himself were overwhelmed with emotion.
Le Duc Phat is the 10th athlete of Vietnamese sports to have a ticket to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Badminton 'Hot Boy' Le Duc Phat: The journey of a boxer's son to a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics
Previously, when he finished the 2024 Olympic qualifying journey with the final tournament being the Kazakhstan International Challenge in mid-April 2024, because he lost the semi-final and won the bronze medal, Duc Phat himself did not think he had a chance to go to the Olympics.
During the 2 weeks of anxiously waiting for the results, Duc Phat still persevered in training to maintain his physical strength and form. On the official announcement day, April 30, 2024, after returning from practice, the tennis player from the Army unit received many messages and missed calls. Duc Phat was somewhat surprised when on social networks, many people congratulated him on officially participating in the Olympics.
Badminton player Le Duc Phat was extremely happy with his first achievement. The 1998-born player could not sleep for almost the entire night because he was so emotional. However, Duc Phat quickly returned to training with higher intensity to bring himself back to a stable mental state.
The tennis player from the Army unit has an impressive physique with a height of 1.8 m.
Within 1 year, Le Duc Phat has advanced 93 places, from being ranked outside the world's top 160 to the top 80, and officially has a ticket to the Paris Olympics in July 2024. That is the result of this tennis player's tireless efforts, especially when there was a time when he thought he would have to give up due to injury.
Among the total of 38 badminton players qualified for the Paris Olympics in the men's singles category, Duc Phat's position may be modest compared to the excellent world-class athletes, but participating in the Olympics for the first time is truly a commendable achievement for Le Duc Phat.
Quit boxing because of fear of pain, fear of being... punched
Not to mention, the journey of the tennis player born in 1998 is even more special when he was born into a family with a tradition of sports, with his father being former boxer Le Van Duc, who won the national championship in 1988 and 1989. Duc Phat himself also started out practicing boxing, but an interesting reason made Phat "turn around" to play badminton.
Because he had no talent for boxing and was afraid of getting hurt and being... punched, he switched to playing badminton. After holding a racket and hitting a few shots, the boy born in 1998 found this sport very fun. Duc Phat thought he was suitable for this sport and he has stuck with badminton until now.
The athlete born in 1998 used to practice boxing but switched to badminton because he was afraid of... being punched.
Finding badminton as the "true love" sport of his career path, Duc Phat still has not been able to freely play and practice with all his passion. The athlete born in 1998 had a very good academic record in high school, so his family expected him to continue studying to stabilize his career. When Duc Phat shared with his family his desire to play professional sports, his paternal and maternal families and even his mother expressed their disapproval.
For Le Duc Phat, deciding to play sports was quite a risk. If he had followed the path of education like his friends, he might have had a stable job and career. It seems that his future in education is more secure than in sports.
But perhaps because he was a "family member", inheriting strong qualities when exercising, the sports blood flowing in Duc Phat made him only want to pursue the path of professional badminton. The player born in 1998 at that time really wanted to go to training with the youth teams to be able to develop his career further. Perhaps understanding his son's feelings, with the mindset of a sports lover, his father, former boxer Le Van Duc, created conditions for Duc Phat to pursue his passion. Le Duc Phat himself was also determined to play this sport to the end, so that everyone would know that he could do something special.
Le Duc Phat is expected to follow in the footsteps of his senior Nguyen Tien Minh.
Aiming to follow in the footsteps of his senior Nguyen Tien Minh, who made history in Vietnamese sports by participating in 4 consecutive Olympics, Le Duc Phat has achieved the first impressive milestone of being named to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Talking about the disadvantage of having to compete without a coach at the Olympics like his senior, Duc Phat revealed that Vietnamese badminton may be supported by a team in France in the near future. In fact, the fact that the most prestigious badminton players of Vietnam in recent years such as Nguyen Tien Minh, Vu Thi Trang, Nguyen Thuy Linh or Le Duc Phat, ... participate in major international tournaments without a coach is not a new story. However, if looking at it in general, it is beneficial for the players because they will experience and compete in more arenas.
According to Duc Phat, the budget for participating in international tournaments is limited. However, badminton athletes are also given many opportunities to compete. To save costs, competing alone will help players participate in more international tournaments. Although having a coach with them is good, the budget for participating in a tournament will increase. This story does not only happen to Vietnamese athletes, but many European and American athletes also choose to compete alone.
Le Duc Phat and Nguyen Thuy Linh will be the two representatives of Vietnamese badminton at the 2024 Olympics.
With his talent and passion for badminton, Duc Phat is also considered a "hot boy" of the badminton world thanks to his impressive physique with a height of 1.8 m and a special personality.
Le Duc Phat is still practicing and competing with all his heart to move forward. With the current progress, the tennis player born in 1998 will probably conquer many more milestones and then, Le Duc Phat's magical journey promises to be even more brilliant and longer.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/le-duc-phat-hanh-trinh-ky-la-cua-con-nha-noi-quyen-anh-den-tam-ve-olympic-mon-cau-long-18524052219415714.htm
Comment (0)