Viet Nam is aiming to win one gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the World Sepak Takraw Championship which kicks off in Malaysia on Monday.

The Vietnamese team, one of the best in the world, will compete in five of six events at the games, which have attracted 10 delegations.

“The gold medal is expected to be won in the women’s regu event, which Viet Nam has dominated for years,” said Nguyen Xuan Hanh, head of the Sepak Takraw Section at the National Administration of Sports.

“One silver is expected to be won by the women’s teams while the men’s and women’s doubles teams are expected to win two bronzes.”

In team and doubles events Vietnamese women are unrivalled, with the exception of Thailand, the defending championships, and China who have strongly improved in recent years. But in regu Viet Nam is No 1.

Meanwhile, the men are mainly aiming to gain experience at the tournament.

Nineteen athletes, 13 of them female, will leave for Malaysia tomorrow under coach Ha Tung Lap.

“The championship was organised two months earlier than scheduled so that my athletes have not yet reached their peak,” Lap said.

“Even though we started training in mid-February we had to take part in several national tournaments. In fact we have just had one month of serious training, which is not enough.”

“Thailand and China are our main rivals. For Thailand it is a traditional sport that is played in every school. China have built themselves up since the 2006 Asian Games and the 2007 world championship,” Lap said.

Our athletes are very determined, as captain Luu Thi Thanh said at the press meeting yesterday but they will be tired. The championship was meant to be held near Kuala Lumpur but was then moved to a small city which is six hours drive from the capital.

On the upside, this is the first championship not to be held in Thailand, which typically benefits from home support.

The National Sepak Takraw Federation leaders have pledged a bonus payment of VND10 million (US$560) for every gold medal that the team wins.

Upcoming tournaments are the Thai King Cup in July, the third Asian Indoor Games in Viet Nam in October and the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos in December.

VietNamNet/VNS