The nation sent 164 members instead of 175 in the original plan, under the leadership of Mr Tran Duc Phan, Vice Head of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, and his assistant Mr Nguyen Trong Ho, Head of the No.2 High Performance Sports Department.
The adjustment resulted from updated regulations of the Organizing Board as well as injuries of athletes. The absent members are Do Quoc Luat (athletics), Vu Duc Thinh (team leader) and his six students in Kick-boxing, coach Hoang Thi Thanh Huong and her student Nguyen Thanh Pho (Bowling), and Kieu Thien Khoi (Billiards&Snooker).
Photo: Internet
So far, Vietnam still expects to compete in 14/21 events (3x3 basketball, bowling, chess, billiard sports, cycling, dance-sport, Taekwondo, equestrian jumping, Futsal, indoor athletics, indoor tennis, Ju-jitsu, Muaythai, Kick-boxing, Kurash, Sambo, short course swimming, weight-lifting, wrestling, belt wrestling, and traditional wrestling), in which Kick-boxing has a coach and two athletes instead of eight as planned.
The futsal and Ju-jitsu teams on September 13th traveled to Ashgabat from Ho Chi Minh city to compete for the very first two events together with belt wrestling.
As scheduled, on September 14th, Vietnamese leaders/experts and athletes on weight-lifting/Taekwondo will depart from Hanoi to Moscow, then transiting to Ashgabat via a Turkmenistan aviation service.
The Vietnamese sports delegation will stay in Olympic Village of Ashgabat Olympic Complex - a unique facility which has no parallel in the Central Asian region. Carried out by Turkish construction company Polimeks, its total cost was USD5 billion (two phases). The Complex boasts over 30 structures, which include 15 competition venues, an Olympic Village and a Paralympic Rehabilitation Medical Center.
For the convenience of athletes and spectators, the Olympic Village will have all necessary infrastructure including social, cultural and shopping centers, hotels, restaurants, cafes, shops, consumer services and car park. The campus will be laid with new pedestrian crossings and a monorail.
The flag hoisting ceremony of the Vietnamese sports delegation will happen in the morning of September 16th, with the presence of Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Khanh Hai. The next day, he is expected to visit and meet the delegation at the Olympic Village, then attending the opening ceremony at the newly built Olympic Stadium in Ashgabat./.