Vietnamese gymnasts out to make history
Vietnam has never won a medal in the Asian Games but the country's top gymnasts are determined to end the drought in next month's Guangzhou Asiad.
National Sports Administration gymnastics division head Nguyen Kim Lan believes that the national gymnasts are capable of winning medals in Guangzhou after their impressive performance in the FIG World Cup in June.
"It will be a challenge for us at Asia's biggest games, but I do believe that all athletes will make something happen like they did at the World Cup event," Lan said.
Top gymnasts Phan Thi Ha Thanh and Pham Phuoc Hung are Vietnam's best medal hopes in Guangzhou.
Thanh won a silver medal in the women's vault at the FIG World Cup in Portugal. The defending Southeast Asian Games champion finished seventh in the floor exercise and seventh in the balance beam.
"It's the best result a Vietnamese gymnast has achieved at an international competition since the country first competed at the Moscow Olympics in 1980," Lan said.
Hung posted a career-best fourth-place finish in the parallel bars in the World Cup. The Hanoi native, who trains in China, also qualified for the final of his pet event in last year's World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in London.
Another medal hope for Vietnam is Beijing Olympics veteran Do Thi Ngan Thuong, who will vie for honours in the women's all-around event.
Winning a medal in the Asian Games gymnastics competition, however, will not be an easy task due to the presence of world-class competitors from China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Kazakhstan.
China dominated the gymnastics competition at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, winning 13 gold, eight silver and two bronze medals. North Korea finished second with a 3-2-3 haul followed by Japan (2-4-6), South Korea (2-0-3), Kazakhstan (2-0-2), Malaysia (0-1-0)
and Uzbekistan (0-0-1).
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