VietNamNet Bridge – The Gold Racket International Table-tennis Competition will take place at the Phan Dinh Phung Indoor Stadium in HCM City from October 31 to November 3.

The tournament has the participation of 62 players from Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. They will compete in four events: single (male and female) and teammate (male and female).

This is the oldest table-tennis tournament in Vietnam, which is listed among official events of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

This year the tournament brings together many outstanding players, including Nanthana Kumwong (Thailand), who just won the Southeast Asia 2012 women's singles championship and ranks 84th in the world rankings.

Some countries send their young players to the event. Notably, the Singaporean squad has three players who have just been "imported" from China.

The host Vietnam does not have its best players at this tournament. After the ashamed fight in Laos during the Southeast Asian Table-tennis Championships 2012, To Duc Hoang and Le Tien Dat were excluded from the national team.

Doan Kien Quoc, the senior player, does not attend so the men’s team has only two key players - Tran Tuan Quynh and Dinh Quang Linh. The women's team has Mai Hoang My Trang and Nguyen Thi Viet Linh.

The total bonus is VND184 million ($9,000), including VND20 million ($1,000) for the men’s and women’s singles champion and VND16 million ($800) for the team’s champion. The event is open for free.

Nam Nguyen