Shuttlecock kicking fails to make SEA Games 31 cut

Tran Duc Phan, Deputy Head of the Sports and Physical Training Department, told local media the revised decision came as Vietnam aims to hold a fairer SEA Games, a biennial sport tournament between Southeast Asian nations.

Vietnam earlier planned to add three of its strong sports to the event next year, but it eventually decided to add just two, diving and martial art vovinam.

Shuttlecock kicking has been a gold winner for Vietnam at many global tournaments. It won two gold medals at the August 2019 world championships in France, successfully defending its title on 10 consecutive occasions.

E-sports, which made its debut at 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, has also been excluded from the list. No reason has been given.

The official list of 36 disciplines at 2021 SEA Games in Hanoi are: athletics, aquatics, archery, badminton, basketball, billiards, bodybuilding, boxing, canoeing/kayaking, chess, cycling, dancesport, diving, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, karate, kickboxing, kurash, judo, muay thai, pencak silat, petanque, rowing, sepak takraw, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, vovinam, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu.

Vietnam will be hosting the SEA Games for the second time since 2003.

SEA Games 31 is expected to attract nearly 20,000 participants, including about 7,000 athletes, from 11 countries across the region.

At last year’s games, Vietnam finished second in the medals tally with 288, including 98 golds.