HA NOI — The national table tennis team is set to win a gold medal in the men's double event at the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games which will kick off in Indonesia today.Doan Kien Quoc and Dinh Quang Linh are favourites to win having defeated Gao Ning and Yang Zi of Singapore in the final at the 25th SEA Games in Laos two years ago.
"At 32, Quoc is the oldest in the team, but his skills and experience are very important. At the last Games, thanks to playing with Quoc, Linh played very well," said head coach Le Xuan Phong.
"This is my last SEA Games and I hope to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics," Quoc confided.
If Quoc's dream comes true, he will make SEA table tennis history by qualifying for three Olympics.
At a world event in the Netherlands in May, Quoc reached the main round of the men's singles and men's double alongside Tuan Quynh.
The 32-year-old, renowned for his left-hand smashes, won a bronze medal at the 21st Southeast Asian Games (SEA) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2001.
Born in Nha Trang City, Quoc won the Southeast Asian Junior Table Tennis Championship in 1996 when he was just 17.
Viet Nam's rising star Linh, together with partner Mai Hoang My Trang, clinched the mixed doubles title at the Golden Racket International Table Tennis Tournament in HCM City in July.
The event will start on November 13 in Jakarta with five sets of medals up for grabs in the men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles. — VNS
vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn
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