Vietnam will send 593 athletes to the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Gamesto compete in 30 sports, the national Olympics Committee announced onSept. 23.
The delegation, led by deputy head of the VietnamSports Administration Lam Quang Thanh, will aim to finish in the topthree with at least 70 gold medals.
Wall climbing, paragliding, patin and baseball will make their debut at the Games which will be held on November 11-22.
Expertsbelieve Vietnam has a good opportunity to win gold medals in 20 sportsincluding athletics, martial arts, wrestling, chess, shooting and finswimming.
The biggest surprise of the delegation is the return ofveteran Nguyen Duy Bang who will compete in the men's high jump event.Bang, who won one gold, two silvers and one bronze in four straightGames since 2001 and is holding the national record of 2.25m, shined atthis month's national championship and was selected for thisdelegation's final roster.
Vietnam's biggest loss is the absenceof judo kata queen Nguyen Hoang Ngan who is still under treatment for aleg injury in Japan.
World champion Ngan, who has dominated theregional tournament for years, will be unable to defend her two titles(individual and team events). A replacement has been selected but hercoaches do not believe she is strong enough to shoulder the task.
TheSEA Games in Indonesia will be organised in the capital Jakarta and inPalembang with 542 sets of medals up for grabs in 44 sports.
In the previous Games in Laos in 2009, Vietnam ranked second with 83 golds./.
The delegation, led by deputy head of the VietnamSports Administration Lam Quang Thanh, will aim to finish in the topthree with at least 70 gold medals.
Wall climbing, paragliding, patin and baseball will make their debut at the Games which will be held on November 11-22.
Expertsbelieve Vietnam has a good opportunity to win gold medals in 20 sportsincluding athletics, martial arts, wrestling, chess, shooting and finswimming.
The biggest surprise of the delegation is the return ofveteran Nguyen Duy Bang who will compete in the men's high jump event.Bang, who won one gold, two silvers and one bronze in four straightGames since 2001 and is holding the national record of 2.25m, shined atthis month's national championship and was selected for thisdelegation's final roster.
Vietnam's biggest loss is the absenceof judo kata queen Nguyen Hoang Ngan who is still under treatment for aleg injury in Japan.
World champion Ngan, who has dominated theregional tournament for years, will be unable to defend her two titles(individual and team events). A replacement has been selected but hercoaches do not believe she is strong enough to shoulder the task.
TheSEA Games in Indonesia will be organised in the capital Jakarta and inPalembang with 542 sets of medals up for grabs in 44 sports.
In the previous Games in Laos in 2009, Vietnam ranked second with 83 golds./.
