Hanoi will host the fifth Asean School Games to be held from June 23-30 with the participation of 1,500 competitors and officials from eight national teams in the region.

The athletes will compete in nine sports including sepatakraw, badminton, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, athletics, swimming, gymnastics, and pencak silt – a martial art of Indonesia.

The host Vietnam sends 248 athletes to take part in all nine sports of the event. Other participant nations are Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines, and Laos.

Tran Quang Quy, Deputy Minister of Education and Training and chief of the organizing board of the Games, said Vietnam grabbed 27 gold medals in the previous event and is targeting to win more than that in this event to rank second on the medal tally.

This marks the first time Vietnam hosts this annual tournament.

The torchlight procession was held yesterday morning to bring the flame from the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to the Hanoi Athletics Competition House where to host the tournament’s opening and closing ceremonies.

The organization cost of the tournament is around VND40 billion (US$1.9 million).