Tran Thi Vui (left) assists her player in sepak takraw training. Vietnam expects to win one gold at the 32nd SEA Games. (Photo:danviet.vn) The competition promises to be tough, with world number one Thailand among theparticipants, Myanmar, and several other countries that have developed strongteams in the sport.
Despite being a strong force in Sepak Takraw, it has been 20 years since Vietnamwon SEA gold in the sport, with their last victory coming at the 2003 editionon home ground.
Despite having the home-ground advantage at the previous SEA Games, theVietnamese team could only manage three silvers and three bronzes.
Three silvers of the women's team went to regu (group of three), team regu andquard (team of four), losing to Thailand in all three finals.
The whole team are working hard to end the long-time drought at the Cambodiancompetition by once again beating the world dominator and SEA Games reigningchampion in either doubles or quard event.
"At the 31st Games, we had young talented athletes, but it was their firsttime at the regional tournament," head coach Tran Thi Vui told reporters."They faced psychological problems which caused unexpected results."
“A 2-0 win over Thailand at the 2022 King's Cup is a strong push for them toovercome the obsession of losing to Thailand. I hope they will be moreconfident at the 32nd Games and bring their great ability to bring homevictories into play."
In the Hoang Mai Gymnasium, the team are training hard to improve theirserving, blocking and finishing skills.
"We also focus on tactics and combinations between players so that theycan work and understand perfectly each other during competing," said Vui."Currently, they are showing stable performance but still have smalldetails to fix."
"Thailand are very strong in all events. At the last Games, they toppedthe medal tally with six golds. Their main team and the substitutes areexcellent.
"After the King's Cup loss, they made strong actions, replacing allcoaches to lift their team. We have not had much information about them andtheir team for the SEA Games. But whatever changes in their line-up, they arestill the biggest challenge of Vietnam.
"Knowing their power, we understand that making another earthquake againstthem is really difficult, but we will have to strive hard. By fixing andlimiting our errors, we will have the expected results."
According to the former SEA Games champion Vui, in the quard event, Thailandand Myanmar will be the two main opponents of Vietnam. There is a small gapbetween participating teams in the doubles, but Thailand is still a strongforce.
"Laos are good in doubles," said Vui. "Cambodia have beensupported by China and Thailand in training activities. They are a secret atthe Games. Therefore we have to work really hard, more than 100 per cent of ourability, to reach the target."
Coach Hoang Thi Thai Xuan said: "The world championship is our pride butalso a pressure for us. As the world champion, we shoulder heavy duty to win atthe SEA Games".
"Our athletes are young and lack international experience because we havealmost no competition to sharpen our skills. All coaches and players must trainand prepare for the Games by themselves. But we will pass this test forvictory."
Cambodia organises four events of sepak takraw for men and women from May 6-16at the Indoor Basketball Hall of the Olympic Stadium Centre in Phnom Penh./.
VNA
