Table Tennis player Tran Mai Ngoc and the challenge at the 33rd SEA Games

In the past 3 years, Tran Mai Ngoc has become one of the potential players of Vietnamese table tennis. Her first mark appeared at the 32nd SEA Games when she and Dinh Anh Hoang won the historic gold medal in the men's and women's doubles event. The achievement helped Vietnamese table tennis end a 26-year wait in this event.

Right at the Congress, Mai Ngoc returned to compete domestically and maintained good form. At the 2023 national championship, she and Nguyen Thi Nga won the gold medal in women's doubles and the men's and women's doubles medal with her familiar teammate Anh Hoang. This is considered an important step forward in the period when she began to shift from the potential group to a pillar athlete.

2024 continues to witness the stability of young tennis players. The duo Mai Ngoc - Nguyen Thi Nga defeated the veteran couple Mai Hoang My Trang - Phan Hoang Tuong Giang for the second consecutive time to defend the national championship in the women's doubles event. In the mixed doubles event, she and Anh Hoang raised their achievements to a silver medal, showing progress in their ability to combine and compete.

In order to aim for important goals this year, Mai Ngoc and some members of the CAND-T&T table tennis team and the national team were sent to China for training. This is a stepping stone for Mai Ngoc to perfect her expertise and confidence before entering big arenas.

"In terms of health and expertise, according to the coach's assessment, Mai Ngoc is relatively stable. However, in reality, during the competition with continuous developments, athletes need to achieve the psychological drop points and the best state to be able to win medals.

The coaching staff also hopes that the two athletes Mai Ngoc and Anh Hoang will promote their skills and techniques as in the recent training", coach Vu Manh Cuong once shared with Lao Dong.

If we look further at the development process, Mai Ngoc has made her mark very early. In 2019, she won the national silver medal in women's singles at the age of 15. In 2021, she surprised everyone when she defeated My Trang in the quarterfinals of the national championship and then won the women's singles championship at the age of 17. This is still one of the most outstanding achievements of the tennis player from Binh Duong.

At the 2024 national championship, Mai Ngoc contributed significantly with the gold medal for women's doubles and the silver medal for men's and women's doubles. However, she has not been able to reach the individual title in the women's singles event - an goal that many people expect her to reach in the near future.

Coach Manh Cuong assessed his student: "Tran Mai Ngoc is a talented athlete with good technique. Ngoc also won the national championship, so the coaching staff has high expectations for his ability. In fact, at the age of 18 and 20, Mai Ngoc has been more or less offended. But this year, this athlete herself has realized stability and is willing to practice hard.

I think in the next 2-3 years, if Mai Ngoc improves and improves her physical strength even better, she can continue and replace her seniors My Trang and Dieu Khanh in the national team".

Looking forward to the 33rd SEA Games, Tran Mai Ngoc will continue to be considered an important factor in the goal of competing for medals in Vietnamese table tennis. Success at the 32nd SEA Games, the experience of international competition accumulated through training sessions and stability in the national tournament system help young tennis players become a reliable choice.

In the mixed doubles event, she and her teammates are expected to be able to maintain their achievements and even expand their competition opportunities in more events, in the context that the older generation is entering the final stages of their careers.

With a clear technical foundation and development orientation, Tran Mai Ngoc is becoming one of the important core of Vietnamese table tennis in the journey towards the 33rd SEA Games.