The miracle of Vietnam's golf achievements at the 32nd SEA Games
"The team's goal is to have a medal at the SEA Games," head coach Nguyen Thai Duong told MetaSports on the morning of April 19.
Like the previous Games in Vietnam, the upcoming SEA Games golf will have individual strokes in the first three days, the rest will be team holes to determine the color of men's and women's medals.
Last period on the Par72 Dam Vac course in Vinh Phuc, the Vietnamese host exceeded the "representative in the top 10 individual" target, when Nguyen Anh Minh - the number one amateur golfer in the country finished sixth. (score -4) and Le Khanh Hung to T10 (even par). Going to the team-style duel with combined points, the Vietnamese team was eliminated in the opening round. Golf at the SEA Games is for amateurs only.
This period, the Vietnam Golf Association (VGA) closed the list of teams in early March including Anh Minh, Khanh Hung, Doan Uy, Nguyen Dang Minh, Le Chuc An, Than Bao Nghi and Doan Xuan Khue Minh. In this squad, Anh Minh and Khanh Hung are considered the two main resources to help the country's golf make a further breakthrough at the Southeast Asian Games.
Over the past 13 months, this amateur duo has repeatedly competed in the professional tournament system VGA Tour, in which Anh Minh won two cups - Lexus Challenge and Vietnam National Championship season 2022. Khanh Hung came in first. Lexus Challenge season 2023, in February. This year, Anh Minh is 16 years old, one year older than Khanh Hung.
To prepare for the 32nd SEA Games, according to Coach Thai Duong, many players have been tested at major events such as the International Series Vietnam of the first-class professional Asian Tour last week, the Faldo Series Asia final round for the Asian Tour. amateur show taking place in Hue. Particularly, Anh Minh and Khanh Hung rubbed more at some youth tournaments in the region.
The budget for the Vietnamese golf team to attend the SEA Games this year is different from many previous periods. The delegation received support from the state budget and the host country during the official competition period, in addition to the contributions of businesses, players' families as well as VGA in the role of presiding over the selection and organization of the competition. practice as well as lead the competition. The social resource mobilization part was used during the training phase.
In the immediate future, the team has been supported by VND 100 million in cash from a member unit of a multi-service golf industry group. In addition, this sponsor also pledged to reward 100 million VND if the team has a team medal, 200 million VND for the member in the top 3 individually.
"It's a great motivation for the team to focus on practicing and prepare the best for the 32nd SEA Games," coach Thai Duong said at the sponsorship ceremony two weeks ago.
On April 24, two main players - Anh Minh and Khanh Hung will go to Phnom Penh to test on the Garden City field. By April 30, the whole team will gather there and familiarize themselves with the battlefield, with at least five rounds expected.
