Vietnamese players are expected to face tough competition from their regional counterparts at the 27th "Golden Racket" Ho Chi Minh City International Table Tennis Tournament, which kicked off at Phan Dinh Phung Indoor Stadium on September 11.

Mai Hoang My Trang's gold medal ambitions will require her to overcome Nanthana Komwong, world No.99 and Singaporean Lin Ze, world No.92, in the women's singles category.

On the men's side, local hopefuls Tran Tuan Quynh and Dinh Quang Linh will have world No.88 Yang Zi from Singapore, in their way.

The annual tournament attracts nearly 100 local and foreign players from eight countries and territories: Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and host Vietnam.

They will vie for medals in four events: men's and women's team, plus men's and women's singles.

While Indian players are appearing at the tournament for the first time, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia promise to be strong teams this year.

Vietnam have four representative teams: Vietnam A, Vietnam B, HCM City , and Petrosetco.-VNA