chess (xiangqi) at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou, China, in November, said coach Hoang Dinh Hong.
Hong also hopes the men will take home at least a bronze medal.
Eleven chess masters have been undergoing intensive training in HCM
City for the tournament, which includes Chinese chess for the first
time – since early May. They have been competing with teams from Dong
Thap and Khanh Hoa provinces.
Their final test will be at the National Sports Meet in Da Nang city next month.
National senior master Ngo Lan Huong, who is the Asian Indoor Games
defending champion, is favourite to take the Asian Games' women's berth.
Masters Nguyen Thanh Bao, Lai Ly Huynh, Trenh A Sang and Nguyen Hoang Lam will be vying for the two slots in the men's team.
"This year ASIAD only features women's and men's individual events.
Unfortunately, that puts Vietnam at a disadvantage because we have
the strongest team in the world," Hong said.
At this year's ASIAD, Viet Nam 's main rival will be China .
"Our difficulty is not the quality of our players but their lack of
competition experience. Chinese players regularly attend at least 10
events a year, while our players attend just a handful," the team coach
said.
Lan Huong's chief rivals will be Wang Lin Na, the China national champion, and Yang Dan.
Hong said that despite their youth, the two Chinese masters are more
talented than former world champion Yu Yungquin, also from China ,
whom Lan Huong has met several times.
Kao Yiping, from Chinese Taipei, is also a major threat. She took the silver medal at the Asian championship.
On the men's side, chief rivals will be China 's national champion Hsu
Yinchuan and Hsiang Chuan, who has the highest elo rating; Wu Kueilin
of Chinese Taipei, who came fifth at the world championship; and
Singapore 's Wo Zonghan, the world No 6./.
