The Vietnamese delegation will be departing for Indonesia on August 14 to compete at the 2018 Asian Games (ASIAD) from 18 August to 2 September.

Blooming talents: Vietnamese athletes receive flowers from Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien

A send-off ceremony for 353 Vietnamese athletes was held on Thursday by the Viet Nam Olympic Committee (VOC) in co-operation with Herbalife Viet Nam, a long-standing nutritional provider for Vietnamese delegations.

The Vietnamese athletes who will be accompanied by more than 135 coaches and supported by dozens of professional officials and will compete against close to 11,300 athletes from 45 countries in Asia across 40 sporting categories.

Speeking at the ceremony, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) Nguyen Ngoc Thien encouraged the athletes achieve the targets they had set to bring glory to the nation.

”ASIAD is Asia’s biggest sport event and a fierce arena that gathers many of the world’s top athletes. Vietnamese participation at ASIAD 2018 is very important as it helps to friendships and solidarity among countries across the continent,” said the minister.

Deputy Director of the Viet Nam Sports Administration Tran Duc Phan, Head of the Vietnamese delegation at ASIAD 2018, said the delegation has 523 members, including doctors, experts, coaches, interpreters and athletes.

They will compete in track and field, shooting, weightlifting, karate, taekwondo, pencak silat, wushu, cycling, fencing, archery and football. Việt Nam targets at least three gold medals at this year’s event.

Prominent athletes include Olympic gold medalist sharpshooter Hoang Xuan Vinh, weightlifters Thach Kim Tuan and Trinh Van Vinh, runner Le Tu Chinh, long jumper Bui Thi Thu Thao, swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, gymnast Le Thanh Tung, taekwondo fighter Truong Thi Kim Tuyen, karatedo fighter Nguyen Thi Ngoan, cyclist Nguyen Thi That, and Wushu martial artist Duong Thuy Vi.

At the previous ASIAD in 2014, Viet Nam won one gold, 10 silver and 25 bronze medals, ranking 21^st in the overall medals tally.

(Source: VNS/ DA NANG Today)