Expected to shine: Top seed Nguyen Thi Viet Linh is a hot tip in the Southeast Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships at Hai Duong's gymnasium tomorrow. — VNS Photo Quang Thang Viet Nam will send 19 players to compete at the Southeast Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships at Hai Duong City's 2,000-seat gymnasium tomorrow.

The coaching team has called up top seeds Nguyen Thi Viet Linh, prodigy Vu Thi Thu Ha and Nguyen Ngoc Tu for the five-day tournament.

Ha, 13, bagged two bronze medals at an ASEAN student table tennis tournament in Indonesia, while Linh, 17, won the U-15 girls' singles at the 2009 Southeast Asian junior championships in Thailand.

The team also includes teenagers Ta Hung Khanh and Pham Thi Thu Huong from Ha Noi T&T.

It's the first time the country has hosted a regional junior tournament, with the participation of over 100 players from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam.

They will be competing in U-18 and U-15 age groups for 11 medal sets in the boys' and girls' singles, doubles, mixed doubles and team events.

"This is the biggest ever junior tournament that Viet Nam has hosted. Vietnamese juniors will face tough rivals from Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia in the singles events," said the Viet Nam Table Tennis Federation's general secretary, Pham Duc Thanh.

"The tournament has been a chance for Vietnamese players to show off their power in the past years."

At the tournament last year, Viet Nam bagged two gold, one silver and four bronze medals.

"We're ready to host the tournament. The gymnasium, which was built for the Southeast Asian Games in 2003 and upgraded last year, will be an ideal venue for the biggest table tennis event of the year," said director of Hai Duong Table Tennis Centre Cao Nhu Lan.

Last week, the organising committee inked a sponsorship contract with Ha Noi Television. 

Source: VNS