Vietnam adds shuttlecock kicking to SEA Games 2021

By Dang Khoa December 24, 2019 | 10:22 pm PT

Vietnamese athletes (red) compete in the Shuttlecock World Championships 2019 held in August in France. Photo courtesy of France Plumfoot.

Vietnam will exercise its prerogative as the host of the 2021 Southeast Asian Games to add shuttlecock kicking, diving and vovinam.

Tran Duc Phan, deputy director of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, said: "Vietnam will focus on organizing sports that are in the Olympic system. There will be full disciplines in running and swimming. We will have a level playing ground. There is no question of adding more sports in group 3 to get more medals."

Group 3 is meant for traditional sports of the region and new sports and include among others petanque, vovinam (traditional martial art of Vietnam), chess, dancesport, pencak silat, muay thai, bodybuilding, and e-sports.

The Philippines, the host nation of this year’s games, included arnis, its national martial art, and obstacle racing and won 14 and six gold medals in them.

Vietnam is very proficient in shuttlecock kicking and won two gold medals at the 2019 world championships held in August in France.

It hopes to win 30-50 medals in group 3 and another 100 in other events to top the medals tally.

The 31th SEA Games will be hosted in Hanoi, the second time after 2003.

At the previous SEA Games that ended earlier this month, Vietnam finished second on the tally board after hosts Philippines, with 98 gold medals. Athletics (16), wrestling (12) and swimming (10) won it the most golds.