Hanoi (VNA) – A send-off ceremony was held in Hanoi on November 16evening for the 568 athletes who are heading for the 2019 upcoming SoutheastAsian (SEA) Games in the Philippines.
According to head of the Vietnamese SEA Games delegation Tran Duc Phan, the country’sathletes will compete in 40 events at the biennial games, and strive to bringhome at least 65 gold medals, particularly gaining excellent achievements insuch Olympic sports as track and field, swimming, artistic gymnastics, fencingand wrestling.
At the ceremony, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien saidthat SEA Games has played an important role in promoting solidarity, friendshipand mutual understanding among the ASEAN member states, while creatingopportunities for the athletes to show off their talent as well as improvetheir achievements.
He hailed the great efforts by coaches, experts andathletes who have been in intensive training for months, expressing his beliefthat they will get the highest results and finish among the top teams at theevent./.