Vietnam targets 3 golds in wushu events at SEA Games 28

Vietnam's wushu team set a goal of winning three gold medals in the upcoming 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games this June in Singapore, according to a sport official.

The number of gold medals will be two less than the record of five the team had won in the previous SEA Games, including three gold medals in the taolu (performance) event and two gold medals in the sanshu (fighting) events, said Le Manh Ha, head of the wushu division under the Vietnam General Department of Sports and Physical Training on its website on Friday.

The official explained the set lower target as Singapore, the host for the SEA Games 28, decided to take away all women's sanshu events from the competition list, in which Vietnam had won two gold medals in the previous 27th SEA Games.

After competing at the National Wushu Championship held in Dak Lak province in early April, 12 male members of the national wushu team, including eight taolu artists and four sanshu artists, will go to China for training and they will fly home ahead of the SEA Games for preparations.

Ten female wushu artists will also be called to join the national team to prepare for the competitions at the 28th SEA Games. Leading artist Duong Thuy Vi who won the sole gold medal for Vietnam at the 17th Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korea, last year will be among them.

As scheduled, Vietnamese wushu artists will also compete at the Asian Junior Wushu Championship in China this August, and the World Wushu Championship in Indonesia in November, according to the sports department. Endit