Vietnamese gymnastics will bring 10 athletes to the 28th SEA Games to be held in Singapore next month, targeting to win at least 10 gold medals, with its hopes mainly pinned on top female gymnast Phan Thi Ha Thanh.

Phan Thi Ha Thanh has long become well-known across Southeast Asia for her consecutive sensational performances at international competitions. Most recently, Ha Thanh overcame a number of strong competitors including reigning Asian Games champion Kim Un-hyang from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and former Olympic winner Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan to bring home the balance beam gold medal at the 2015 Varna World Challenge Cup in Bulgaria – her second World Cup title since the beginning of 2015. Earlier in March, the Hai Phong born athlete secured a gold medal in the same category at the eighth FIG Artistic Gymnastics Challenge Cup in Qatar, where she also won another bronze on vault.

Ha Thanh is seen as Vietnam’s ‘golden girl’ of gymnastics with her stable form maintained over the past few years, attributed to constant training and a persistent spirit. In addition to her favoured vault event, Thanh has also been achieving remarkable progress in the balance beam category, which is one of the most difficult disciplines of gymnastics. These positive signals give home fans a strong belief in Thanh’s brilliance, anticipating her to excel in Singapore next month.

According to experts, it will be relatively possible for Ha Thanh to walk away with five of six gold medals in her registered events. Except for the women’s team events, she has been highly appreciated in the all-around, vault, balance beam, uneven bars and freestyle categories.

As for Ha Thanh, the 28th SEA Games are now just a rehearsal for her bigger objectives in the near future, including the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. The 24-year-old star is looking towards realising her biggest goal of winning a 2016 Olympic medal before moving on to a career in training.

Other promising faces

It is undeniable that Ha Thanh has long reached an exceptional level compared to the common level of Southeast Asia’s women’s gymnastics. Despite that fact, the medal-winning duties of Vietnamese gymnastics will not be left to Ha Thanh alone. She will be accompanied by many other promising athletes of the national team, most notably including young male athlete Dinh Phuong Thanh, who impressed spectators by winning a bronze medal at last year’s Asian Games in the Republic of Korea.

With his strength in the men’s pommel horse, horizontal bar and parallel bars, Thanh is said to have the capacity to replace elder Pham Phuoc Hung and approach international level if he remains among the athletes under key investment from the sporting sector.

Furthermore, Le Thanh Tung and Dang Nam are gradually filling the vacancy left by Nguyen Thanh Ha in the men’s vault event. At the recent World Cup in Bulgaria, Thanh Tung performed outstandingly to take bronze in the vault category, in which Dang Nam ended up in fourth place. The men’s team is also determined to claim the team gold medal at the 28th SEA Games.

With such promising athletes, gymnastics is expected to safeguard its top spot, winning 12 gold medals at the 26th Games in Indonesia four years ago, and become one of the key sports contributing the most gold medals for Vietnam in Singapore next month.