Vietnam aims to top SEA Games 31 medal tally
VOV.VN - Vietnam will play host to the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) this May, seeking to top the medal table of the event.
According to the preliminary registration list, approximately 7,000 athletes from 11 countries will compete at the region’s largest sporting event which is due to take place in Hanoi and 11 neighboring provinces from May 12 to May 23.
Vietnam has registered the largest number of athletes with more than 1,100 players, followed by Thailand (1,036), Indonesia (1,001), Malaysia (815), Myanmar (754), Singapore (706), the Philippines (603), Cambodia (494), Laos (363), Timor Leste (54) and Brunei (41).
Tran Duc Phan, deputy head of the Vietnam Sports Administration, said the Vietnamese delegation aims to clinch most gold medals at the event.
Notably, both men and women football teams are set to successfully defend their gold medals they won at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.
To fulfil the goal, sports teams have gathered early for training throughout the Lunar New Year holiday. Some teams have chosen overseas destinations for training and friendlies in order to hone skills for coming competitions in May.
In the last sporting event, hosts Philippines ranked first with 149 gold medals, leaving behind Vietnam and Thailand in second and third places with 98 and 92 gold medals respectively.
