“After 19 years, Vietnam makes me so impressed”
TWO SEA GAMES COOPERATION IN VIETNAM
“Vietnam has really changed a lot. I still remember 19 years ago when I came here to work at the 22nd SEA Games, the streets of Hanoi were still full of bicycles. And now, high-rise buildings are springing up. everywhere, bicycles have also been replaced by motorbikes and cars.
Walking around Hanoi, I can easily find large commercial centers and luxury restaurants. The cuisine here is also very diverse with many local restaurants as well as Korean and Japanese style eateries. After 19 years, Vietnam makes me so impressed. Everything is quite similar to Thailand and I really had some memorable days with the 31st SEA Games.” Journalist Viriyah Tong Tunnukolkit expressed his feelings.
Thai journalist is one of the few journalists and reporters who have the opportunity to work in both SEA Games taking place in Vietnam (2003 and 2022). And in this return, he was really impressed with the development of Vietnam.
Along with that, the past working days have also brought journalists of Thai PBS many interesting perspectives on the SEA Games. Talking with us, Mr. Viriyah Tong Tunnukolkit revealed that he was strongly impressed by the sports fans in Vietnam:
“Returning to Vietnam this time, I understand why Vietnamese sports have made such progress in recent years. Vietnamese people love sports passionately, every competition venue is full of spectators. It was so impressive.
For example, in Kurash, I personally do not understand the law very well and probably many people do not. But when I got to the gym, I was really surprised. There were a lot of fans who came to watch this sport.
I see the kids in the stands and their eyes shine with love for sport, the joy of being able to watch athletes compete. That shows the potential from the next generation and I believe Vietnamese sports will develop even more.”
Photo of journalist Viriyah Tong Tunnukolkit when working at SEA Games 22 (left) and SEA Games 31
The Thai journalist continued: “19 years ago, U23 Vietnam also met U23 Thailand in the final. When Thailand U23 won, the whole stadium was silent. But it also shows how much Vietnamese people love football.
And when the final match returned to My Dinh Stadium at this SEA Games, an emotion filled with excitement rose up in me when I once again witnessed 40,000 spectators filling the stands of this football field.
This is not the same in Thailand. I think the football atmosphere in Thailand in recent years cannot be so exciting. Perhaps because in the past 2 years, Thai football has not had good results under coach Akira Nishino. It wasn’t until Coach Polking came back that everything got better.”
The passionate atmosphere at My Dinh as well as the competition venues at the 31st SEA Games made the international media extremely impressed. (Photo: Nhu Dat)
“STOP SAYING SEA GAMES IS EASY”
At the end of the 31st SEA Games, the Vietnamese sports delegation won the first place in the whole group with 205 gold medals, far ahead of the second place team, Thailand, with 113 gold medals. Commenting on this result, journalist Viriyah Tong Tunnukolkit made his point:
“I was a bit surprised (when Vietnam crossed the 200 gold medal milestone – PV). However, I think it is also understandable. Vietnam has a good sports background and the host country takes the lead. The medal table is not a surprise at the SEA Games. Thailand or other countries are the same. In general, I think Vietnam has successfully organized the SEA Games.
In particular, I must emphasize this. Some people say that SEA Games is no big deal, winning a medal is normal. However, I think that is not true. SEA Games is not easy at all. This tournament is an important stepping stone for sports to move up to bigger playing fields like ASIAD and Olympic.”
The Thai journalist concluded: “When I saw Vietnam win the Olympic gold medal in shooting, I was really surprised. I had to say: “Vietnam is so good”.
But to get there, we have to have the foundations built in advance. Thailand focuses on investing in Olympic sports, but that’s not why the SEA Games are overlooked. This is definitely still a very important sporting event for Southeast Asia.”
“At the same time, I hope that Vietnam can organize a larger congress, such as ASIAD. In 2014, when I heard that Vietnam would withdraw to host ASIAD 2018, I was really sad.
I am eagerly waiting for the Asian Games to take place in Vietnam in the future. Then I can come back here again. Really, the past 31st SEA Games days have brought me a lot of joy. Thank you Vietnam!”.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: Kenh14.Vn – Read the original article here
