HA NOI — Viet Nam will leave for the third Asian Beach Games in China, the second biggest sport festival in the region, on June 12.

Deputy head of the Viet Nam Sports and Physical Training Administration Lam Quang Thanh will lead the 91-athlete team to the host city of Haiyang.

They will compete in nine sports including sepak takraw, volleyball, handball, woodball, basketball, football, roller skating, climbing and dragon boat racing. Organisers said that 1,417 athletes from 43 countries and territories have registered to participate in 13 sports.

The Games will officially open on June 16, but competition will begin earlier starting with volleyball on June 12, the draw for which will take place the day before. According to the organisers, there are 51 men's and 28 women's teams.

Roller skating will see the first winner of the Games on June 17, when six medal sets will be presented.

Vietnamese athletes are expected to get their first gold medal in the sepak takraw on June 19. Viet Nam and Thailand are the two strongest countries in this sport in the world.

At the first Games in Oman two years ago, Viet Nam won one sepak takraw silver medal, three silvers in bodybuilding, and one handball bronze, finishing 14th in the medals table.

Vietnamese sports officials hope to gain experience from the Games ahead of hosting the event in 2016 in Nha Trang City.

The fourth Games will be held in Thailand in 2014. — VNS