Four Cambodian artistic gymnasts — Ten Vanndet, Yorn Mongkol, Reth Lymeng and Phon Sokchea, who also serves as an assistant coach — have received long-term training scholarships to train at Shantou Sports School in Guangdong province, China. The programme is designed to sharpen their skills in preparation for international competitions, including the 33rd SEA Games, which will be held in Thailand this December.
The delegation, led by Noy Phana, secretary-general of the Cambodian Gymnastics Federation, departed for China on Tuesday morning. Their training is scheduled to continue until November 30. This opportunity arose thanks to the efforts of Deputy Prime Minister Thong Khon, who is also president of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) and the Cambodian Gymnastics Federation, with scholarship support provided by Gordon Tang, NOCC vice-president.
During the almost five-month training period, Sokchea and Vanndet will focus on strengthening their capacity in preparation for the upcoming SEA Games. Meanwhile, the younger athletes, Mongkol and Lymeng, will undergo training aimed at youth-level international competitions both inside and outside the region. This is considered a great opportunity to build their capacity, especially since they have previously attended training camps in China.
Phana emphasised that in Olympic sports, particularly artistic gymnastics, athletes cannot expect to win medals after just 3–4 years of training. It typically takes more than 10 years of dedicated practice to become medal contenders. Therefore, improving technical ability is essential. Past training stints in China have already significantly improved the athletes’ performance.
Given this, he expressed optimism that the four gymnasts’ extended training in China will further boost their individual performance and prepare them to achieve strong results and win medals for the country in the future.
“This is a long-term trip that’s great for them as they prepare for the SEA Games at the end of this year. I believe the team will train hard and receive quality coaching over there. At the very least, their performance will improve,” he said.
“I reminded them that this nearly five-month training comes at a high cost, so they must train with great commitment to repay the efforts of Gordon Tang and Thong Khon, whose dedication is aimed solely at helping the team win medals and achieve results,” he added.
The 33rd SEA Games in 2025 will include artistic gymnastics competitions, which is why the federation is working hard to strengthen athlete training. The goal is to help Cambodian athletes compete against others in the region, some of whom have already won Olympic gold.
Recognising this, Tang — who also serves as vice-president of the Olympic Council of Asia —granted the scholarships. He has previously contributed to the development of Cambodian sports through both financial and technical support, helping athletes reach higher levels and win medals on the international stage.
With this latest training opportunity, gymnast Vanndet, who has trained in China three times, pledged to work hard to further improve his performance — both as a way to repay the support from Khon and Tang and to prepare for the 2025 SEA Games.
“This time, I’m more determined to train harder than ever before, because I still have technical gaps and body control weaknesses. I’ll work closely with the great coaches there to improve these areas, so I can deliver a better performance at the SEA Games this year — especially since I didn’t perform well in 2023 due to a knee injury,” said the 20-year-old.
Sokchea shared the same enthusiasm for the trip, saying: “This is my third time training in China. In the past two trips, I improved a lot in terms of strength and technique, but I still lack some routines and body movements. This time, I’m committed to training harder to sharpen my skills even more. I’ll do my best to achieve good results at the SEA Games at the end of 2025.”
