At the 2023 Asian Gymnastics Championships, Khanh Phong won the silver medal in the men's rings event, with 14,366 points, ahead of his two opponents Kiu Chong (Hong Kong-China, 14,100 points) and Carlos Yulo (Philippines, 14,033 points). The gold medal in this event was won by Chinese athlete Lan Xingyu with 15,200 points. This is the second time Khanh Phong has defeated Carlos Yulo, who has won the world championship many times and the Asian championship four times. Previously, at the 32nd SEA Games, Khanh Phong defeated Carlos Yulo to bring home the gold medal in the men's single rings event for the Vietnamese Sports Delegation.

Player Khanh Phong has been in good form recently. Photo: DUNG PHUONG

At the end of the tournament in Singapore, the Japanese gymnastics team won first place overall with 11 gold medals. The Chinese gymnastics team ranked second with 7 gold medals... The Vietnamese and Jordanian gymnastics teams each had 1 silver medal, ranking 8th.

The last time Vietnamese gymnastics won a medal at the Asian Championship was in 2019 in Mongolia, with two bronze medals in the horizontal bar and parallel bars by Dinh Phuong Thanh and Le Thanh Tung. Meanwhile, the most recent Asian Championship gold medal of the Vietnamese gymnastics team was won by Le Thanh Tung in the vault in 2017.

At the 2023 Asian Gymnastics Championship, the Vietnamese female athletes did not compete successfully. Mr. Bui Trung Thien, in charge of the Gymnastics Department (General Department of Sports and Physical Training), said: "The Vietnamese Gymnastics team has two official slots for the 2023 World Gymnastics Championship, Khanh Phong and Van Vi Luong. The World Championship in Belgium next August will consider the achievements so that the International Olympic Committee and the World Gymnastics Federation can award direct slots to the 2024 Paris Olympics."

As a basic Olympic sport, in recent years, despite limited funding, Vietnamese Gymnastics has always achieved many achievements. In three consecutive Olympics in 2012, 2016, 2020, Vietnamese Gymnastics had athletes who passed the qualifying round and attended the Olympics. Therefore, after completing the goal at the 32nd SEA Games, the Vietnamese Gymnastics team is striving to win a bronze medal at the 19th Asian Games 2023 (held in Hangzhou, China) and win a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Coach Truong Minh Sang of the Vietnam Gymnastics team said: “The Olympic standards for Gymnastics are getting higher and higher. While in some sports, the Asian Games is considered one of the Olympic qualifying tournaments, Gymnastics ignores this arena. Therefore, the coaching staff of the Vietnam Gymnastics team and the athletes must make great efforts to be able to win tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.”

Currently, the Vietnamese Gymnastics team is investing heavily in three players: Khanh Phong, Xuan Thien and Hai Khang in the campaign to win tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

CAM TU