VnnNews – Viet Nam’s weightlifters are aiming to win at least a silver medal at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou, China in November.
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The nation’s biggest medal hope is Hoang Anh Tuan, who faces Beijing Olympics gold medal winner Long Qingquan from China. Tuan was runner up to the Chinese weightlifter at Beijing, winning the silver in the men’s 56kg category.
Tuan will be preparing for the games with a new Bulgarian trainer, hoping to recover from a disappointing performance at the Southeast Asian Games last December.
Next month the nation’s weightlifting team will train in Bulgaria, a country regarded as one of the strongest when it comes to weightlifting. The six-month training course in Bulgaria will also help to prepare the team’s younger members for the coming Youth Olympics Games in Singapore in August.
But for Tuan the main focus is to boost his strength for the coming ASIAD.
“Tuan is at a low performance level at present so it is difficult for us to set a target for the coming ASIAD, especially when the event is up to nine months away,” said Do Dinh Khang, head of the Weightlifting-Wrestling Department of the National Sports Administration.
“However, we will try our best to get a silver, like we did in Beijing.”
Tuan said timing is crucial in preparing for major competitions.
“An athlete can’t be at his peak through out the entire year,” said Tuan. “An athlete has to time his training to ensure his peak performance will be during competition. My Chinese rivals are difficult to beat as they receive good support in both training and nutrition as well as opportunities to train abroad.
Luck
“However, in any event, as in ASIAD for example, athletes also need a little luck to win gold.”
Other medal hopes include Duong Thanh Truc and Nguyen Thi Phuong Loan, who both won unexpected gold medals at last December’s SEA Games, in the men’s 77kg and women’s 69kg pools, respectively.
Sports officials are hoping weightlifters in light weight categories will also lift their game.
“We can not forget our failures from recent competitions,” said Khang. “We have time for more training before taking part in these events so I believe we can have a successful ASIAD.”
VietNamNet/VNS
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