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| At the National Beach Sepak Takraw Championship 2023, Hue Sepak Takraw successfully changed the medal color |
Entering top 4
Coach Le Phu Vinh Long announced the good news: at the National Beach Sepak Takraw Championship 2023, which took place in mid-June at Thuan An Beach (Hue City), the Thua Thien Hue Sepak Takraw 3 women’s team brilliantly beat Nghe An strong opponent to scoop a gold for the first time. Thua Thien Hue sepak takraw also got a bronze in the 4 women's team. With 1 gold and 1 bronze, the Thua Thien Hue sepak takraw team ranked 4th in the entire delegation and successfully changed the color of the medals.
This achievement is said to be heartening, recognizing the outstanding progress of Thua Thien Hue’s fledgling sepak takraw. Earlier, in 2021, at the National Beach Sepak Takraw Championship 2021 taking place in Sam Son (Thanh Hoa), Thua Thien Hue sepak takraw won a bronze. Then, the Thua Thien Hue sepak takraw changed color with a silver earned at Cua Lo (Nghe An) in 2021. And at the Beach Sepak Takraw Championship 2022 in Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), Thua Thien sepak takraw got 2 bronzes.
In July 2022, Thua Thien Hue hosted the National Young Sepak Takraw Championship 2022, bringing together more than 250 athletes from 14 delegations across the country. The athletes competed in the following events: 4 men's team, 4 women's team, 3 men's team, 3 women's team, men's doubles, and women's doubles, at the age of 16 or under and from 17 to 20. In this tournament, the sepak takraw young athletes of Thua Thien Hue sprang a big surprise when winning as many as 4 medals, including 1 gold medal in the 3 women's U16 team and 3 bronzes (4 women's U16 team, U16 women's team, and U20 women's team).
Outstanding faces
On June 8, 2020, at the Provincial Sports Center Gymnasium, the Department of Culture and Sports of Thua Thien Hue in concert with the Vietnam Sepak Takraw Federation successfully organized the National Sepak Takraw Championship 2020. Despite the first-time participation full of surprise, Thua Thien Hue shuttlecock players promptly earned a bronze. And, based on this team of shuttlecock athletes, the Thua Thien Hue sepak takraw team was established with 16 talented athletes.
Although formed in 2020, it was not until 2021 that Thua Thien Hue sepak takraw had the quota of establishing a team. The division promptly organized the recruitment of athletes across the province. Notably, the recruitment was made through the physical education teachers at some schools such as Thuy Van Lower Secondary School (Hue City), and Thuy Thanh Lower Secondary School (Huong Thuy)... to find resources. For the lack of passion and the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recruitment encountered many initial difficulties.
Overcoming the initial limitations, Thua Thien Hue sepak takraw has built a strong team of athletes. According to coach Le Phu Vinh Long, Thua Thien Hue currently has 4 athletes Do Thi Nguyen, Phan Thi Khanh Ly, Dang Thi Kim Quyen, and Nguyen Thi Tra My in the group of excellent athletes competing for gold in the tournaments. Do Thi Nguyen is the coach of the national youth team while Phan Thi Khanh Ly and Dang Thi Kim Quyen are the members of the National Youth Sepak Takraw Team. Notching up no success at the National Sports Festival 2022, Thua Thien Hue sepak takraw aims for a medal at the National Sports Festival 2026, held in Ho Chi Minh City.
Bricks cannot be made without straw
It is not effortless to develop a young sepak takraw athlete when there are quite strict requirements in terms of height, resilience, agility, and physique. The localities such as Thua Thien Hue have limited financial resources, so they focus solely on developing movement sports and training some popular sports and give no attention to sepak takraw. Because there is no movement tournament for sepak takraw, it is quite tough finding athletes in Thua Thien Hue.
The conditions for training sepak takraw athletes in Thua Thien Hue remain sharply limited; it is obvious that the movement has not developed strongly.
For sepak takraw to develop effectively and gain more competitive achievements, a strong investment is sorely needed. In the short run, it is necessary to overcome difficulties to incorporate sepak takraw into schools to lay a foundation for the movement. Besides, there is a need to develop a plan to widely socialize sepak takraw to localities in the hope of finding talent for this sport.