"Golden girls" Nguyen Thu Ngan, Chau Tuyet Van and Nguyen Thi Le Kim, who won gold in the 2010 and 2011 championships; will be looking to add a third trophy to the nation's tally, in the women's U29 event.— File Photo

HA NOI (VNS)– Viet Nam has its sights on winning up to four gold medals at the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, to be held in Bali at the end of this month.

The 24-member team will compete in 17 categories and will face off against top athletes from Turkey, Spain, South Korea and China.

While Viet Nam will defend only one title from last year's championships; the free style mixed team event, power duo Nguyen Dinh Toan and Nguyen Minh Tu will seek a fourth gold medal, after consecutive wins between 2009 and 2012.

"Golden girls" Nguyen Thu Ngan, Chau Tuyet Van and Nguyen Thi Le Kim, who won gold in the 2010 and 2011 championships; will be looking to add a third trophy to the nation's tally, in the women's U29 event.

Le Thanh Trung and Thoi Thi Minh Thuy, who have shown strong form at recent events, are expected to top the free style mixed doubles.

Veteran Nguyen Thi Huyen Dieu will also compete this year in the women's individual over-29 pool, while master Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy will compete in the women's individual U59 event.

The championships will cap off an intensive training period begun earlier this year, where athletes were summoned to South Korea for preparations.

Viet Nam is expected to beat its medal tally from last year's championships in Tunja, Colombia, where the nation's squad pocketed one gold medal, five silver and two bronze.

The championships will finish on November 3. – VNS