During the last days of April, Vietnam’s aerobic gymnastics squad won both gold and silver medals at the Aerobic Gymnastics Suzuki World Cup held in Tokyo Japan , thrilling all aerobics enthusiasts. Vietnam ’s duo - Ba Dong and Thu Ha impressed the fans when they won the top prize in the mixed double event at the tournament. It was the highest achievement of Vietnam ’s aerobic gymnastics in the international arena and demonstrated the improvement that is occurring with Vietnamese athletes. The duo started practising together three years ago in April 2006. Even though they were both born in 1989 in Hai Phong and shared a passion for the sport they had different views on how to compete, causing turbulent times during training and numerous headaches for coach Vu Tuyet Oanh. Over time, with the help of the coach, Ba Dong and Thu Ha hammered out a routine that was suitable to each of them. Coach Vu Tuyet Oanh said: “Both athletes have nice face and form and show their innate aptitude for the sport”. It is not until seeing this dedicate duo perform an aerobic routine do we fully understand the coach’s statement. Moving harmoniously around the stage they fascinate onlookers with their energetic performance. Ba Dong and Thu Ha on the podium to receive the championship title at the Aerobic Gymnastics Suzuki World Cup 2009 in Japan    Ba Dong - Thu Ha (centre) at the Aerobic Gymnastics Suzuki World Cup 2009 inJapan. Ba Dong (male) and Thu Ha completing their performance perfectly at the Aerobic Gymnastics Suzuki World Cup 2009 in Tokyo (Japan). Joys of Vietnam’s Aerobic Gymnastics Team and their expert Mariyan Kolev at the Aerobic Gymnastics Suzuki World Cup 2009 in Japan. The duo and their medal collection after three years of competing together. Bulgarian expert Mariyan Kolev gives technical instructions to Thu Ha. Bulgarian expert Mariyan Kolev gives technical instructions to Ba Dong. 5/ 6/ Ba Dong and Thu Ha practise the “tower” position, a difficult technique in aerobic gymnastics. After over one year of hard-training, their perfect combination brought them their first gold medal at SEA Games 25 in Thailand in 2007. In 2008, the duo and their team-mates captured two bronze medals (in the event of mixed double and three people) at the Aerobic Gymnastics World Cup and one silver medal (in the mixed double event) and one bronze medal (in the event of three people) at the pre-World Games. In 2009 some new regulations were added to the competition so Dong and Ha worked diligently to adjust their routine and stayed within the guidelines set down by the Federation of Aerobic Gymnastics.  At the final round of the Aerobic Gymnastics Suzuki World Cup the couple performed flawlessly, being awarded 19.700 points and won the championship. Also in the event for three people, Ba Dong, Thu Ha and Tien Phuong won a silver medal with 19.981 points, falling in behind the Chinese team of Tao Le, Yu Wei and Zhang Peng (China) with 21.000 points. In the World Games held in July, 2009 in Taiwan, Vietnam’s Aerobic Gymnastics Team was ranked 6th. Their success was partly attributed to the enthusiastic instruction of their Bulgarian expert Mariyan Kolev who won a world gold medal in the event of mixed double (2004). Although achieving many successes, Ba Dong and Thu Ha and other members of Vietnam’s Aerobic Gymnastics Team are training hard to prepare for the Southeast Asian Championship to be held in Laos by the end of this year. Story by Vu Hieu Photos by Hoang Ha – Files