PANO – In the first half of 2013, teams from army units participated in 18 international and local tournaments, winning 156 medals, making contributions to promoting troops’ health and the sports training movement in the whole army.

The General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army worked with the General Department of Sports and Physical Training (under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), the Military Martial Arts Federation, and Military Zones 5 and 7 to organize the Traditional Martial Arts and Boxing Tournament and the National Boxing Cup.

Besides, the unit asked relevant agencies to select outstanding athletes for international and local championships.

Over the past time, military athletes competed in 11 domestic sports events to bag 49 golds, 48 silvers and 38 bronzes, while they won 12 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze medals in 7 international tourneys.

Until the end of this year, the General Staff will continue to instruct army units to host sports festivals at the grassroots level and hone athletes’ professionalism for upcoming international and local tournaments, prepare for the 23rd ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet in Myanmar, as well as provide a training course for shooters from the Lao People’s Army.

Translated by Van Hieu