Karatedo players get kick-start in Vietnam
Nine men and five women karatedo fighters are training at the Sports Training Centre in Hanoi , Vietnam , from September to October, hoping to boost their SEA Games medal chances.
The group travelled to Vietnam last week. For the past five months they have been training at the National Sports Training Centre in Sikeut village, Naxaithong district, Vientiane .
From April to June this year, six women and 10 men in a variety of categories also trained in Hanoi .
At the 24th SEA Games in Thailand in 2007, the Lao karatedo team won a bronze medal in the fighting event but was unsuccessful in the dance event.
Lao karatedo trainer Thavixay Salichan said this year's SEA Games on home soil would provide the team with another chance to win a medal in the women's singles dance event.
However, the female team of three fighters was unlikely to succeed because they were not enough fit for teamwork.
The Lao Karatedo Federation will select the three best female fighters to take part in the games.
They will be selected by Lao karatedo trainers at the Lao-Japan Budo Centre in Vientiane after returning from Hanoi .
The Lao karatedo team will train at the Budo Centre from the end of October. The federation will host the SEA Games karatedo events at the centre.
Mr Thavixay said he believed both the men's and women's teams would deliver a strong performance at the games.
The four female fighters are Thaviphone Salychan, Litdaphone Bounnaphon, Oraphan Khouhathong and Chanthamaly Songkham.
Ms Litdaphone is a teacher at Pakpasak Technical School and Thaviphone, Oraphan and Chanthamaly are students at the National University of Laos. None of them won a medal at the SEA Games in Thailand .
Ms Thaviphone will take part in the women's singles dance event. She won a bronze medal at the ASEAN University Games in Vietnam in 2006.
Mr Thavixay said a regional karatedo championship was planned for early November to test the fighters' tactics.
He hoped the fighters would be able to train in Japan in preparation for the games.
The dance events comprise men's and women's singles, and men's and women's teams. The fighting events consist of the men's 55, 60, 65, 70, 75 and 80kg weight categories, and women's 48, 53, 60 and over 60kg categories.
By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
September 18, 2009
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