519 local athletes to compete at 27th SEA Games

The 750-member delegation includes 519 athletes under the lead of Lam Quang Thanh, Deputy Head of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training.

They will join other regional competitors in 30/33 events at the Games, with the aim of winning 70 gold medals and ranking among the top three.

Thanh said that the host Myanmar is expected to secure the first place, followed by Thailand.

As many as 43 Vietnamese athletes will compete in the track-and-field event, hoping to clinch 10-12 gold medals in 46 sets of medals, he added. 41 others will join water sports event, 29 in cycling, 28 in karate, 28 in pentanque, 25 in sepak takraw, 23 in wushu, 21 in taekwondo, 21 in wrestling, 18 in chess, 18 in traditional martial arts (Vovinam), and 18 in judo.

A ceremony will be held at the Hanoi-based National Sports and Physical Training Centre on November 20 to announce the official participants in the region's largest sporting event.

Vietnamese male footballers will play their first match on December 1.

(Source: Dangcongsan.vn)