Vo Thanh Tung, swimmer.

HCM CITY (VNS) — A send-off ceremony for the national sport delegation headed for the Southeast Asian ParaGames will be organised in HCM City on November 26.

The Vietnamese athletes with disabilities will take part in nine out of 15 events which will be organised in Singapore from December 3 to 9.

The biggest number is in the track-and-field event with 37 competitors. There are 34 athletes in swimming and 11 in power-lifting.

Other events are chess, table tennis, badminton, and football 5-a-side, apart from boccia and sailing.

To prepare for the Games, athletes have been in training since early September in Ha Noi and HCM City.

"It is a ParaGames that our players have longest period of time for training with the most favourable conditions. Our target this year is as many new records in powerlifting and swimming as possible," Vu The Phiet, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Sports for People with Disabilities Association, said.

The eighth biennial sports festival of the region is expected to see about 1,500 athletes of 10 countries participating.

They will be staying at the Marina Bay Sand Hotel, which is also one of three competition venues.

Most of the events will be organised at the Singapore Sport Hub while sailing will be held at the Marina Bay.

The Vietnamese will depart on November 30.

In the previous edition in Myanmar, Viet Nam with 48 gold medals finished fourth in the medal tally.

Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia occupied the top three positions. — VNS