Interesting sharing from the two oldest female athletes of the Vietnam Pickleball Tournament - Hyundai Thanh Cong Cup 2025

TPO - The stands of the Vietnam Pickleball Tournament - Hyundai Thanh Cong Cup 2025 had emotional moments when witnessing the couple Luong Le Phuong Thao (born in 1965) and Truong Thi Nhu Thao (born in 1967) competing. As the two oldest athletes, they came to the tournament to spread the spirit of sportsmanship regardless of age and to inspire and give positive energy to young people.

On the second day of the Vietnam Pickleball Tournament - Hyundai Thanh Cong Cup 2025, the couple Luong Le Phuong Thao (born in 1965) and Truong Thi Nhu Thao (born in 1967) made the stands explode with their emotional performance.

At 60 and 58 years old, these are the two oldest players in the tournament. Few people know that they have been involved in table tennis for more than four decades, and are table tennis grandmasters who have played for the national team in international competitions. In addition, Phuong Thao and Nhu Thao also have 20 years of experience playing tennis.

"I used to play professionally, but now I'm old and have switched to amateur table tennis, so I'm a bit bored," Ms. Phuong Thao laughed, sharing with Tien Phong newspaper reporters. "Switching to pickleball is like a new start, so I feel much more excited."

The 60-year-old athlete said that her table tennis and tennis skills helped her a lot in pickleball. However, pickleball also has its own interesting features that forced her to adapt.

"Pickleball requires a quicker hitting time than tennis, and although table tennis helps me develop quick reflexes when going to the kitchen (also known as non-volley ) to play doubles in pickleball, this sport requires hitting with the forearm, not the wrist," Ms. Phuong Thao explained.

With pickleball, Phuong Thao and Nhu Thao had to adjust their habits, hitting the ball with their whole arm and keeping their wrist still when performing dinks .

However, with their extensive experience, the two girls easily mastered the pickleball racket and participated in many tournaments in the past. And now, both are present at the Vietnam Pickleball Tournament - Hyundai Thanh Cong Cup 2025 at the D-JOY Pickleball court cluster.

"We came to the Vietnam Pickleball Tournament - Hyundai Thanh Cong Cup 2025, which gathers many top athletes, to learn from highly qualified people and know where we stand in this sport . At the same time, we also want to spread the spirit of sports regardless of age, inspire and give positive energy to young people," Ms. Nhu Thao shared.

Ms. Phuong Thao added that the Vietnam Pickleball Tournament - Hyundai Thanh Cong Cup 2025 is a good and useful playground, which should be maintained annually, providing opportunities for athletes to compete, exchange, and improve their skills, thereby helping the pickleball community develop and form good factors.

"If there is anything that needs to be adjusted, I hope that next year the Organizing Committee will add an age bracket, instead of 35 years old and up, it can be extended to 45 years old and up. Because as it is now, the age gap between the girls and their opponents is sometimes more than 20 years," Ms. Phuong Thao laughed.

Finally, both Phuong Thao and Nhu Thao joked that they wished they were 10 years younger. "I was so fascinated by the young athletes of the Vietnam Pickleball Tournament - Hyundai Thanh Cong Cup 2025. We just wish we could be young again to compete with them and satisfy our passion for sports," they said excitedly.

Duy Anh - Thanh Hai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nhung-chia-se-day-thu-vi-cua-hai-nu-van-dong-vien-lon-tuoi-nhat-giai-pickleball-viet-nam-cup-hyundai-thanh-cong-2025-post1757669.tpo