Vietnamese table tennis "thirsty" for international competition opportunities

However, just one or two such competitions in a year are not enough to raise the level of Vietnamese table tennis. Therefore, we still need long-term, stronger support from many businesses.

Tennis player Nguyen Anh Tu will compete in an international tournament in Kazakhstan with support from businesses. *Photo: Duy Linh*

Accumulate expertise, accumulate opportunities

Recently, Smart Education Technology Joint Stock Company (VietED) has realized its commitment to sponsor female tennis player Nguyen Khoa Dieu Khanh to participate in the World Professional Table Tennis Tournament (WTT). Although Dieu Khanh was initially awarded a ticket to Oman after winning the women's singles championship at the 2024 Southeast Asian Table Tennis Championship, an injury caused her to miss that opportunity. VietED reserved the funding and decided to sponsor her to compete at WTT Kazakhstan (August 30 to September 5). In addition to Nguyen Khoa Dieu Khanh, VietED will also sponsor Vietnam's No. 1 male tennis player Nguyen Anh Tu to participate in this tournament.

Both will compete in the singles and mixed doubles, thereby maximizing the opportunity to compete and promoting the effectiveness of the investment in the competition trip. For Anh Tu, this is the second time participating in a tournament in the WTT system. Nearly a year ago, Nguyen Anh Tu also participated in the tournament in Kazakhstan with the companionship of VietED. That year, Nguyen Anh Tu only competed in the men's singles and was eliminated in the first round.

The cost for an athlete to compete in a tournament in Kazakhstan has not been announced. However, according to calculations by coaches who regularly take athletes to compete in Kazakhstan, the cost of travel, food, accommodation, competition fees... is around 100 million VND/person.

In July 2025, tennis player Nguyen Khoa Dieu Khanh also joined the Tran Viet Thang Notary Office table tennis team to participate in the 2025 Southeast Asian Club Championship in Thailand and won the runner-up position. Notably, the team competed entirely with socialized funding. In addition to Dieu Khanh, the squad also included Nguyen Duc Tuan - the men's singles champion of the 31st SEA Games, along with many other famous tennis players. After this competition, Dieu Khanh said: "Competing internationally helps me learn many styles, tactics as well as maintain my competitive spirit. An athlete like me really hopes to compete internationally regularly like this."

Hope to have more businesses join

Compared to other individual sports such as badminton, chess, etc., Vietnamese table tennis players have very few opportunities to participate in international competitions. In these sports, support from families, governing bodies, businesses, etc. for athletes is also common. For example, in badminton, with the support of businesses as well as governing bodies and the Vietnam Sports and Physical Training Department, in addition to a methodical communication strategy, tennis player Nguyen Thuy Linh (Dong Nai) has reached 18th place in the world. This is also the best ranking of a Vietnamese female badminton player. Or in chess, players such as Bang Gia Huy, Dau Khuong Duy (Hanoi), Pham Tran Gia Phuc (Ho Chi Minh City) ... thanks to the support from their families and businesses, they compete internationally continuously to be able to soon complete the goal of winning the title of International Grandmaster before the age of 20...

Meanwhile, table tennis is still struggling with the issue of competition funding for key players. For example, from the beginning of 2025 until now, due to limited funding conditions, Vietnamese table tennis has not been able to participate in the Asian Cup and the World Championship. Before that, in 2024, the situation was similar when the national table tennis team did not have many international competitions.

Former national team coach Le Huy frankly said: “The thing Vietnamese athletes lack the most is international exposure. Without training and competing abroad, it is very difficult to improve their level. At that time, the goal of a SEA Games gold medal becomes even more stressful for only a few key players.” Meanwhile, table tennis player Nguyen Anh Tu shared: “Table tennis is a competitive sport, each international match is a valuable lesson. Therefore, we athletes always crave to compete internationally.”

According to experts, if Vietnamese athletes compete in 6-8 international tournaments each year, their level will be much higher than it is now. Not to mention, competing in international tournaments recognized by the International Table Tennis Federation will also help athletes improve their world rankings.

In fact, there was a period when Vietnamese table tennis did not have any players on the world rankings. The absence from the ranking system is not just a matter of ranking but a manifestation of a table tennis industry that is not integrated. On the contrary, the more players on the rankings, the more it shows that the table tennis industry is developing sustainably.

A positive sign is that in the past 2 years, the socialization model in the competition of tennis players has had specific results. For example, in 2024, nearly 10 Vietnamese tennis players participated in the 2024 US Open thanks to sponsorship from businesses. Or the story of VietED and a number of other businesses also accompanying athletes in a number of tournaments in Indonesia and Kazakhstan. However, according to VietED Director Pham Ngoc Hieu, more businesses are needed to help tennis players participate in about 6-8 international tournaments each year. The Vietnam Table Tennis Federation also identified that socialization and finding more resources from businesses for athletes to compete internationally is a top priority. If this bottleneck is not resolved, it will be difficult for Vietnamese table tennis to step out of the "SEA Games goal".

And only then can we dream of stable rankings on the world rankings or continental medals.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/bong-ban-viet-nam-khat-co-hoi-thi-dau-quoc-te-712141.html