Vietnamese sport needs to adjust long-term plans as several traditional strengths are absent from the SEA Games 34 programme, according to SGGP's analysis. The Malaysia event is scheduled for September 2027 with 43 sports and 473 events.
Past medals show the scale of change
SGGP lists wrestling, rowing, canoeing, traditional boat racing, kickboxing, jujitsu, chess and handball among the missing sports. Together they contributed 24 of Vietnam's 87 gold medals at SEA Games 33.
Wrestling accounted for ten golds and the boat-racing disciplines for eight. Those past totals illustrate the significance of the changes without establishing how many medals Vietnam will lose at an event not yet held.
The article also notes reductions in some disciplines that remain, extending planning questions beyond teams whose sports are excluded entirely.
Different routes for continued development
Ta Dinh Duc, responsible for wrestling at the Vietnam Sports Administration, said absence from the SEA Games need not mean reduced investment or development opportunities. Training and competition pathways must instead preserve standards and build experience at Asian and world events.
SGGP also identified chess as requiring an adjusted international programme. These are preparation priorities rather than newly achieved results.
Administration head Nguyen Danh Hoang Viet stressed the different roles of the SEA Games, Asian Games and Olympics in identifying and developing athletes. The next task is to translate that approach into suitable training and competition schedules for individual sports, balancing immediate regional opportunities with longer-term continental and global objectives.