Table Tennis

SEA Games champion Đinh Anh Hoàng and teammates will have a training course in China in preparation for Olympic qualification. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The national table tennis team will have an intensive training camp in Nanning, China, as part of their Olympic qualification plan.

All the strongest players have been practising in Hà Nội and HCM City since January 22. They will have short break for the Tết (Lunar New Year) Festival before training again until end of March.

As planned, they will leave for Nanning for one month. It is expected that on May 3, the entire team will go to Thailand to attend the Asian table tennis Olympic qualifiers.

Việt Nam have not taken part in any Olympic qualification for years. Their last time at Olympics was in 2008 with only Đoàn Kiến Quốc representing in the men's singles.

Last year, the team did not to take part in the Thailand event because of finances and athletes' poor ability.

However, according to Phan Anh Tuấn, general secretary of the Việt Nam Table Tennis Federation, taking part in the qualification in Thailand would not cost much. At the same time, this was a tournament by the World Table Tennis Federation, bringing together many quality players from Southeast Asia and Asia, so it will be an opportunity for Vietnamese athletes to sharpen their technique.

He added that the China training camp would help his players gain confidence in their ability and be ready for the Olympic qualifier from May 23-25 in Pattaya.

As many as 21 qualified singles slots, 11 male and 10 female, will be claimed by successful athletes.

A total of 172 athletes, 70 in singles events, will participate in the table tennis competition at Paris 2024.

The table tennis competition will take place from July 27 to August 10, with the first final taking place on July 30 at the South Paris Arena, an exhibition and convention centre that will be a major hub at the Paris 2024 Games. — VNS