LookAtVietnam – Truong Thanh Hang and Nguyen Van Huynh will represent Viet Nam at the Asian Athletics Association Grand Prix, the first round of which is in Suzhou, China, on Saturday.

Ready to run: Nguyen Van Huynh and Truong Thanh Hang (photo) will represent Viet Nam at the Asian Athletics Association Grand Prix in Suzhou, China, on Saturday.

More than 200 athletes from 21 countries and territories in Asia will be taking part. They include Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines, who will also be tough rivals for Viet Nam in the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos in December.

Athletes will compete in 21 events. The winner and two runners-up will receive US$1,500, $800 and $500, respectively.

Athletes reaching the qualifying round will automatically qualify for the world tournament in August.

Among the chief medal prospects are Japan’s Naoki Tsukahara (men’s 100m), Khubbieva Guzel, of Uzbekistan and Ivoninskaya Natalya, of Kazakhstan (women’s 100m), Liu Xiaosheng from China (men’s 400m) and Malaysian Lee Hup Wei in the men’s high jump.

Southeast Asian sprint queen Vu Thi Huong was due to join Hang and Huynh in China but she had to withdraw at the last moment because of injury.

Meanwhile, former Asian high jump champion Bui Thi Nhung was dropped as she has under-performed this year.

Three of her chief rivals have cleared the bar at 1.98m, while other have jumped 1.91m to qualify for the tournament, including Yeveyeva Yekaterina, of Kazakhstan, and Chaipech Noengruthai, of Thailand. Nhung’s best this year is 1.89m.

Hang will be up against Margarita Matsko, of Kazakhstan, and Irina Moroz, from Uzbekistan, in the 400m.

Both have performed better than the Vietnamese this year. Hang’s personal best is 2min, 3.66sec, while Matsko has run 2:03.05 and Moroz 2:03.49.

Meanwhile Huynh, whose personal best is 10.24sec, will be up against Femando Lumain of Indonesia (10.25sec) and Thai Suwonprateep Sittichai (10.36sec), both of whom will also be taking part in the SEA Games.

After Suzhou, athletes will relocate to Kunshan, South Korea, for the second round on May 27 and Hong Kong for the final on May 30.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News