Vietnam athletes today will leave for the 2017 Summer Universiade, the world sport games for students which will be organised in Chinese Taipei from August 19-30.

Chau Tuyet Van and Nguyen Thien Phung (right) won bronze medals for Viet Nam at the Summer Universiade in South Korea in 2015.  The delegation will take part in four sports including athletics, karate, wushu and gymnastics.

At the 29th edition of the festival, 14 sports including athletics, basketball, fencing, gymnastics and swimming are compulsory. Seven are optional and only billiards is a demonstration event.

More than 7,600 athletes from 131 countries and territories will compete in the 12-day tournament.

Football and water polo are two sports that begin on Friday, one day before the opening ceremony.

The Universiade, which is organised every two years, is the ultimate dream for university athletes worldwide. It is one of the highest-profile international sporting events, second only to the Olympic Games, in terms of the variety of competitions and the number of participating countries and athletes.

In the last Universiade in South Korea, Viet Nam grabbed two bronze medals in taekwondo and finished 58th among 141 participants.

South Korea topped the table with 47 golds, Russia and China were second and third, respectively. 

VNS