Vietnamese pilots arrive in the Republic of Korea on September 30. They will compete at the Paragliding World Cup Gochang from October 1 to 8. (Photo courtesy of Dinh The Anh) They are among the 120 best pilots in the world who are gathering in Gochang, a county in North Jeolla province.
These six participants, who arrived in the RoK on September 30 safe and sound, are well-known.
Tran Hoang Kim, Vu Tuan Dung and Le Hoang Bach qualified in August thanks to their outstanding performance in recent years.
They are joined by Do Huu Le, Dinh The Anh and Nguyen Thi Hai Yen, who made their names with their results from the Putaleng XC Open 2020.
The increasing number of Vietnamese competitors at the World Cup is a remarkable improvement for Vietnam. As a new sport, there is no federation yet, but all activities are managed and developed by six clubs.
While this will be Bach's second World Cup after his first appearance in 2019, the rest are fresh faces in the global competition.
Bach was one of the first paragliders in Vietnam. With nearly two decades of flying since 2005, he has performed remarkably.
He was in second place in two Vietnamese pilots' favourite destinations with a 209.95km fly in Khao Sadao, Thailand and a 126.49km fly in Tam Duong district, Lai Chau province, Vietnam.
He is currently No 5 in Vietnam's ranking.
Dung, now No 2 in Vietnam, has been flying since 2013. He is the pioneering pilot joining paragliding events abroad. He is the reigning champion of the Putaleng XC Open 2020 after placing third at Thailand's ASEAN Friendship Open 2019.
Kim, 22, is the team's youngest member, began flying in late 2016. Despite a shorter time with the sport compared to his seniors, Kim showed off his strong paragliding passion and has not denied any competition if he could join, from Vietnam to Asia and even the US.
He won the title of the CIS 2019, ASEAN Friendship Open 2019 and second place at the Putaleng XC Open 2020.
He is the No 1 in Vietnam and ASEAN.
Le has made his name in every destination in Vietnam with hundreds of hours flying annually. In just two years, Le has grabbed high results in local competitions and a slot at the World Cup.
Anh has flown individually and attached many tourists with him to travel from the sky, admiring the beauty of the Son Tra peninsula in Da Nang.
He has also flown everywhere in Vietnam and discovered Asia and Europe. He is the defending champion of the Ta Dung and Nha Trang Paragliding tournaments organised earlier this year.
Yen is the only female team member. The 30-year-old made a 241km flight in Deniliquin, Australia, in 2019, and made it the longest flight by Vietnamese pilots for three years, before Kim broke it with his 264km flight in Utah, the US, last month.
Yen finished in top place in the women's category at the Putaleng XC Open 2020 and qualified for the World Cup.
The Paragliding World Cup is a cross-country flying competition for paraglider pilots, organised by the Paragliding World Cup Association, based in Marlens, France.
The Paragliding World Cup Tour visits 5-6 locations worldwide each year. At each event, several tasks are flown to establish the overall classification.
Gochang has hosted many competitions over the years, including the pre-World Cup and Asian tour events./.
VNA
