Teenage trio Nguyen Hoang Thien, Nguyen Thi Kim Tuyen and Hoang Quy
Phuoc will make their debut at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China next
month.
Swimmers Phuoc and Tuyen, two of Vietnam's top swimmers, have been
training in China in preparation for the biggest sporting event in Asia.
Prodigy Phuoc, 17, from Da Nang has sustained the
form that helped him win a 100m butterfly bronze medal in the Southeast
Asian Games in Laos last year with a time of 55.65sec.
"Phuoc has rapidly perfected his skills in training. He has knocked
his personal best time down to 54.71sec in his favourite 100m butterfly
event," said Nguyen Dang Ha, who coaches Phuoc at the national sports
camp No 3 in Da Nang.
"However, the Asian Games will
be tough for Phuoc as he will face top stars from China, Japan and the
Republic of Korea. I believe he will give a lifetime best performance at
the Guangzhou Asian Games," Ha added.
The Da Nang-born swimmer has an arm span of 1.98m, which helps him move quickly through the water.
Meanwhile, Tuyen, 16, from HCM City also triumphed in the national
championships last year bagging 10 gold medals and breaking eight
records.
"She is one of Vietnam's most talented
swimmers. She wins gold almost every time she gets into the water at the
national championships. Tuyen is capable of competing in the freestyle,
butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and medley relay," said the general
secretary of the Vietnam Aquatic Sport Association, Dinh Viet Hung.
"But Tuyen needs more competitions and tests before the Asian Games. A
lack of big games experience against strong opposition is her Achilles'
heel but I hope she overcomes that at the Games that start in two weeks
time," Hung said.
The swimming events, with 38 medal sets up for grabs, will be held from November 13-18.
Nguyen Hoang Thien, 15, recently won two International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior single's titles in a fortnight.
Thien triumphed in the boy's singles at the International Junior
Championships in Bac Lieu southern province, just a week before cruising
to victory at the Vietnam International Junior Championships in Binh
Duong.
He has climbed from 497th in the ITF junior
rankings to 338th since last year, and he's looking to break into the
top 200 in the world by the time he's 18.
"It's the
first time he has been called to the national team to compete at the
Asian Games, but I'm not worried because he has already experienced
numerous international competitions," said Thien's father, Nguyen Hoang
Minh.
"He still has his eye on ITF tournaments to
boost his world ranking, which hopefully will enable him to compete at a
Grand Slam someday," Minh said.
Thien is expected to play one more tournament before flying to Guangzhou.
The tennis event will take place from November 13-23.
Vietnam has announced a 260-member squad to compete in 29 of the 42
events at the 16th festival from November 12-27. Vietnam hopes to finish
in the top 15 out of the 45 participating countries and territories./.
