Vietnamese Vovinam martial artists expect to earn three or four gold medals at AIG III

Vietnam is hoping to win 15- 20 gold medals and finish among the top eight at the third Asian Indoor Games (AIG) that starts October 30.

In the first competition held in Thailand, teams from 37 countries and territories participated in nine sports.

China topped the medal table with 24 golds, followed by Kazakhstan with 23 golds and Thailand with 19 golds. Vietnam earned one silver and one bronze medal and finished 21st out of 27 teams.

In the second contest, teams from 45 countries and territories took part in 16 sporting events.

China continued to be on top with 52 gold medals, while Thailand came in second with 19 golds, and Vietnam took two golds, five silvers and 11 bronzes to finish 13th out of 45 teams.

Vietnam will have 477 athletes competing in all of the 20 games.

The host nation fancies its chances for gold in Vovinam, swimming, wushu, pencak silat, kick-boxing, chess, billiards & snooker, sepak takraw, aerobic, track & field and the kylin-liondragon performance.

Vovinam and pencak silat martial artists are expected to win three or four gold medals in each event while wushu, chess and track & field athletes may win one or two gold medals in each game.

Tran Van Quynh, manager of the Vietnamese contingent at the AIG

III, said, “Although there have been lots of difficulties, especially the effects of the global economic recession, our sports agencies have invested a big amount to ensure our athletes will win at least 15 gold medals.”

New games

At the indoor games this time, Vietnamese athletes will compete in some new games like kabaddi, kurash and e-sports.

Kabaddi (sometimes written as Kabbadi or Kabadi) is a team sport that originated in central India.

Two teams, each with seven players, occupy opposite halves of a field and take turns sending a “raider” into the other half, in order to win points by tagging or wrestling members of the opposing team.

The raider then tries to return to his own half, holding his breath during the whole raid. Each match has two halves, each lasting 15 minutes.

Kabaddi was introduced at the second AIG in Macau in 2007. At this third event, it will be held at the Cau Giay District Sports Center in Hanoi from October 30 till November 6. Vietnam’s participation in the game is aimed as a learning experience.

Kurash is a form of upright jacket wrestling native to central Asia that has been practiced for more than 3,500 years.

Competitors, one wearing a green jacket and the other a blue jacket, try to throw each other to the ground on either side. Throwing the opponent to the back won’t count.

These events will take place from November 1-4 at Gia Lam District’s Sports Center in Hanoi.

The e-sport is a competition for gamers on computers that will be organized from November 1-4 at the Hanoi University of Technology.

Vietnam has 16 gamers competing in the event. They were selected from a competition early this month.

Team coach Duong Vi Khoa said, “The team will participate in four categories and expects to win medals in the FIFA 09 and DotA Allstars categories.”

Reported by Lan Phuong