Vietnamese marksmen target seven SEA Games gold medals

Vietnamese marksmen target seven SEA Games gold medals
The national shooting team has set an ambitious goal to bag seven golds at the 25th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos later this year.

Shooters in the key rifle event will be trained by the outstanding coach from the Republic of Korea, Kim Kyung-Jae. Previously, they had been under coaches from Russia, Germany and China.

Commentators predict that the 28-year-old Korean coach will raise the bar of competitive shooting in Vietnam as he has been working in Seoul for three years on a US$4,000/month contract. As head of the Vietnamese national team, he will now earn US$1,700 per month.

There will be no change to the team’s budget from the State this year, but because of a great deal of investment in the teams’ diet, trainers will have to be strict about the number of shooters included in the pool.

This year’s team will include 37 shooters and seven coaches. They will meet in the National Sports and Physical Training Centre No. 1 on Feb. 15 to prepare for the year ahead and are divided into two groups, rifle and pistol.

According to General Secretary of the Vietnam Shooting Federation, Nguyen Duc Uynh, the Vietnamese crackshots will take part in the 33rd SEA Shooting Association Championship in Thailand where they will need 12 gold medals to defend their title.

National stadium and sport facilities for SEA GAMES 2009

Laos, for the first time in the history, will host the biggest event for the Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane 2009. Check out some of the photos below for the main stadium and other sport facilities to be used for SEA GAMES 2009. All of these photos are taken in October 2008.

Lao Karatedo team eyes two golds in SEA Games 2009

Photo: Mr Vilayvong Boutdhakham ( third left ), Mr Phongsavath Boupha ( fourth left ), Mr Watanabe Toshiyuki ( fourth right ) and federation officials gather at the Youth Union on Monday. The Lao karatedo team is hoping for two gold medals at the 25 th SEA Games in Laos next year, after winning only one bronze medal at the 24 th SEA Games in Thailand last December. On Monday the Lao Karatedo Federation held a ceremony at the Lao Revolutionary Youth Union to present certificates and black belts (dan) to the federation president and officials. A representative of the Yuuwakai Association of Japan, Mr Watanabe Toshiyuki, presented certificates and black belts (5 dan, 4 dan and 3 dan) to President of the Lao Karatedo Federation and Deputy Security General of the Lao Revolutionary Youth Union, Mr Vilayvong Boutdhakham, and to the federation's vice presidents, secretary and trainers. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and consultant to the federation Phongsavath Boupha, national team members and members of the Vientiane Secondary School Karatedo Club also attended the ceremony. “We want to strengthen the hearts of the federation's president and officials to encourage them to continue to improving karatedo in Laos ,” Mr Phongsavath said. “We thank the Yuuwakai Association and hope Japan will continue to help us develop karatedo in Laos and that our two countries will enjoy friendly cooperation.” The karatedo team from Vientiane Secondary School gave a demonstration of their skills at the end of the ceremony. Consultant to the federation Sonesak N.Nhansana supervised an examination of karatedo fighters in several categories at the Lao Telecom Centre Shotokan Karatedo camp on Sunday. Seven candidates passed the examination and received a black belt and 3 kyu, 7 kyu and 8 kyu belts. They have been training in the sport since March this year. The camp will send a karatedo team to compete in the 8 th National Games in Champassak province in December and the camp's top fighters will join the national team at the 25 th SEA Games in Laos next year.

1989 Southeast Asian Games

The 15th Southeast Asian games were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 20 August - 31 August 1989. It was officially opened by 9th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Azlan Shah. Although Cambodia did not participate, Laos returned to compete for the first time under the new federation name in this edition of the games. A unified Vietnam first participated in the SEA games in 1989 as well।

Position	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Indonesia	102	78	71	251
2	Malaysia	67	58	75	200
3	Thailand	62	63	66	191
4	Singapore	32	38	47	117
5	Philippines	26	37	64	127
6	Myanmar	10	14	20	44
7	Vietnam	3	11	5	19
8	Brunei	1	2	24	27
9	Laos	0	1	0	1

1989 Southeast Asian Games

The 15th Southeast Asian games were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 20 August - 31 August 1989. It was officially opened by 9th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Azlan Shah. Although Cambodia did not participate, Laos returned to compete for the first time under the new federation name in this edition of the games. A unified Vietnam first participated in the SEA games in 1989 as well।

Position	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Indonesia	102	78	71	251
2	Malaysia	67	58	75	200
3	Thailand	62	63	66	191
4	Singapore	32	38	47	117
5	Philippines	26	37	64	127
6	Myanmar	10	14	20	44
7	Vietnam	3	11	5	19
8	Brunei	1	2	24	27
9	Laos	0	1	0	1