LookAtVietnam – Nguyen Duy Luong was voted in as chairman of the Viet Nam Sepak Takraw Federation on Saturday.

“Sepak takraw has quickly become a strong sport in Viet Nam regionally and in world competition after 20 years”.

At the meeting, five deputy chairmen were also appointed as was a 23-member executive committee for the 2009-14 session.

The federation, which has been in the making for a year, will map out the future development of the sport, at which the country excels.

“Sepak takraw has quickly become a strong sport in Viet Nam regionally and in world competition after 20 years. Athletes triumphed at the Asian Games when they beat Thailand to stand on the victory podium,” Luong said.

“This is the first step to helping the sport enter into a professional regime like football and volleyball,” Luong added.

The sport, which involves kicking a rattan ball, is played in 15 provinces and cities. It has 200 registered professional players and coaches.

The head of the Sepak Takraw Department at the National Sport Administration, Nguyen Xuan Hanh, said the formation of federation was the first step towards making the sport fully professional.

“Sepak takraw has been developing in Viet Nam for two decades. It gained glorious victories for Viet Nam in World and Asian events. We really want to make it a professional sport like football and volleyball,” Hanh, the federation’s general secretary, said.

Ha Noi and Dong Nai have become two main centres for the sport.

“Dong Nai has attracted a lot of people to the sport since it first came to Viet Nam. From four players, we have built a key training centre for the national team to compete in the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games and World Championship,” said Luu Ngoc Tuan, an official from Dong Nai department of culture, sports and tourism.

“We hope to provide more athletes for the country and to gain glorious victories in coming tournaments.”

Viet Nam’s women’s team is one of the top teams in the world, while the men’s team ranks sixth in the world.

In 1997, Viet Nam won a bronze medal at the sport’s debut in the Southeast Asian Games. Viet Nam has continued to dominate the sport and won a gold medal in the World Championship in 2000 and two golds in the SEA Games in Viet Nam in 2003.

At the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, in 2006, Viet Nam bagged two gold medals after beating the sport’s inventor, Thailand, in the women’s finals.

Two years ago, Viet Nam won two silvers and one bronze medal at the King’s Cup World Sepak Takraw Championships in Bangkok.

At their debut at the 1st Asian Indoor Games in Thailand in 2005, the women’s hoop team grabbed a silver medal.

Sepak takraw has been included in the roster for the third Asian Indoor Games to be hosted for the first time by Viet Nam in October.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News