Hanoi (VNA)  – Vietnamese fencers are promoting training with the aim of obtaining three gold medals at the coming 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31), according to the Organising Committee. 

Over the past years, Vietnam has continually been among the best fencing teams in Southeast Asia.

Vietnamese fencers pocketed eight of the 12 gold medals at the 28th SEA Games, held in Singapore in 2015. However, they won only three of the six gold medals at the 29th SEA Games in Malaysia in 2017 and four of the 12 golds at the 30th Games in the Philippines in 2019.

The biggest Southeast Asian rivals to Vietnam in this sport now are Singapore and Thailand.

To achieve the target of three gold medals, 36 athletes gathered at the national sports training centres in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in early January. Twenty-four of them have been selected for competing in all the 12 categories at the Games, comprising six team and six individual categories.

Coach Phan Anh Tuan said among the outstanding athletes, Vu Thanh An remains No. 1 or No. 2 in the region, and with his performance and constant training, An will still be able to advance to SEA Games finals even in the next three years. Young potential athletes who can succeed him include Xuan Loi, Duc Anh, and Van Quyet.

Meanwhile, the key female fencers at this time’s Games are Nguyen Phuong Kim, Vu Thi Hong, and Nguyen Thi Trang, Tuan added.

Fencing events with 12 sets of medals will take place at the Hanoi Indoor Games Gymnasium from May 13 to 18./.