Athletics

Nguyễn Thị Oanh competes in the women's 1,500m event at the 32nd SEA Games on May 9. Oanh will participate in the Taiwan Athletics Opens on May 27-28. — VNA/VNS Photos

HÀ NỘI — With no time to rest after the 32nd SEA Games, runners and table tennis players will participate in international competitions ahead of the Asian Games.

A 14-strong track-and-field team will compete at the Taiwan Athletics Opens in New Taipei City, Taiwan (China), on May 27-28.

Among the competitors are SEA Games medallists Nguyễn Thị Oanh, Nguyễn Thị Huyền, Nguyễn Thị Hằng, Nguyễn Tiến Trọng and Lương Đức Phước.

Oanh won four 32nd SEA Games golds in the women's 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase. She also secured gold in the 1,500m event at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship. The coaching board will decide which category she participates in when they arrive in Taipei on May 25.

Huyền and Hằng and their two male teammates Trần Nhật Hoàng and Trần Đình Sơn, who won SEA Games mixed team gold, will test their skills in both individual and team events.

Huyền took silver while Hằng earned a bronze in the women's 400m in Cambodia.

Phước will debut in Taipei in the men's 800m and 1,500m. He secured two silvers in these events in the Phnom Penh competition

Meanwhile, Trọng will aim at a top-three finish in the men's long jump. He finished second in the SEA Games.

Trần Mai Ngọc and Đinh Anh Hoàng are invited to a friendly tournament in the US in June.

On the table tennis side, the team, including SEA Games champions Trần Mai Ngọc and Đinh Anh Hoàng, will have a friendly tournament in the US next month.

Other athletes are Lê Đình Đức, Nguyễn Thị Nga và Nguyễn Khoa Diệu Khánh.

Đức and Khánh won men's and women's individual bronze medals while Nga, Khánh and Ngọc secured a bronze in the women's team in the Cambodian Games.

They are invited to compete with clubs in Houston, Texas.

According to the coaching board, athletes will return to training this week before leaving for the tournaments on June 3.

The Taipei and Houston events were considered important warm-ups for the Vietnamese team ahead of the 19th Asian Games in September in China.

Việt Nam's best athletics results in Asian Games were two golds in women's long jump by Bùi Thu Thảo and women's 400m hurdles by Quách Thị Lan in the 2018 edition in Indonesia.

Table tennis has not made the top three ever. — VNS