Vietnam’s national archery team is preparing for the Southeast Asian Games, returning to the regional multi-sport program after an absence with 10 gold medal events on offer, vietnam.vn reported.
Archery Returns to the Southeast Asian Games Program
The sport was left off the schedule for the 32nd Southeast Asian Games held in 2023 in Cambodia. Its reinstatement for the upcoming regional competition brings back 10 medal sets across individual, team, and mixed team events in both recurve and compound divisions. For the Vietnamese federation, the return offers a direct look at how neighboring competitors have evolved since the previous continental gatherings.
Training methods have undergone a significant overhaul ahead of the games. Korean coaching expert Park Chae-soon was brought in to revamp the national setup, working alongside upgraded equipment investments. Those shifts helped propel athletes Do Thi Anh Nguyet and Le Quoc Phong to secure direct qualification berths for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. While results did not meet expectations in France, the Olympic appearances established a higher baseline of expectation for the wider squad.
Regional Rivals Set the Benchmark in Southeast Asia
Despite recent Olympic qualifications, Vietnamese sports officials acknowledge a substantial competitive gap separating the program from regional powerhouses. Phan Trong Quan, head of archery at the Ministry of Sport, noted that the discipline is now classified as a key developmental priority targeted at youth infrastructure.
Historical data shows the challenge facing the squad. At the 31st Southeast Asian Games hosted in home, Vietnam claimed four silver medals and one bronze across the 10 events. Neighboring nations boast far deeper roots in the sport. Indonesia captured an Olympic silver medal as early as 1988, while Thailand integrated archery into the Asian Games program as far back as 1978. In contrast, Vietnam only began investing in the sport in recent years.
Compounding the competitive hurdle, the omission of archery from the 2023 Cambodian schedule blocked coaches from assessing the current form of regional opponents in a multi-sport environment. Coach Cap Manh Tan described that absence as the primary obstacle in tracking tactical shifts among competing federations.
International Testing Grounds Shape Selection Changes
To bridge the scouting gap, the national federation dispatched athletes to high-level international fixtures in China, Spain, and South Korea ahead of the regional games. These international appearances served to harden technique under pressure and expose younger competitors to world-class scoring paces.
Concurrently, the selection process for the national team shifted away from a singular reliance on domestic tournament results. Under the framework introduced by Park Chae-soon, all prospective athletes enter a centralized pool subject to multiple rigorous evaluation phases. The internal competition is designed to mirror pressure conditions while filtering out inconsistent performers ahead of the 2026 Asian Games and the 2028 Olympic cycle.
Alongside established Olympians, younger talents such as Nguyen Thanh Nhi, Hoang Thi Mai, and Nguyen Duy have emerged as core contenders for selection. Sports administration officials plan to use grassroots initiatives and school outreach programs to expand the talent pipeline as part of the broader national development initiative.
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