The  to the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China took place at the Army Theatre in Hanoi on November 7. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan and some celebrities attended the event.

 

Two hundred and sixty Vietnamese athletes will participate in the Asian Games in 26 sport disciplines, including billiard-snooker, karate, sepak takraw, chess, taekwondo, weight lifting, wushu, shooting, archery, track and field, badminton, boxing, canoeing/kayak, rowing, dancing, football, fencing, gymnastics, judo, wresting, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, cycling, golf and water sports.

 

Most of the team will depart for Guangzhou on November 11 while others will join them later.

 

Vietnam expects to win four to six gold medals in the sepak takraw, karate, shooting, taekwondo and billiards-snooker in which the Vietnamese women and Vu Thi Nguyet Anh are defending their titles of sepak takraw and karate champions.

 

Chess makes its debut this year and Vietnamese masters have made their mark on the world stage with remarkable success in recent years. More successes are expected in track and field, shooting, billiards and snooker.

 

At the previous Asian Games in Qatar, Vietnam grabbed three gold, 13 silver and seven bronze medals, ranking 19th out of 38 delegations. Their best performance came eight year ago in Busan, South Korea, where they earned four gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals, which helped them to reach 15th out of 43 teams.

 

The 16th Asian Games’ opening ceremony will be on November 12 and the games will close on November 27.