Pétanque in Vietnam

Vietnam is the reigning Women's Triples World Champion, and has been since 2023 - a back-to-back title run that makes it one of the most successful national teams in the sport today. Known locally as bi sắt ("iron balls"), the game arrived during the French colonial period of the 1940s and has since grown into a genuine national sport, organized today under the country's state sports administration rather than a standalone federation body.

History

Pétanque was introduced to Vietnam in the 1940s, during the era of French colonial administration that lasted until 1954, following the same pattern of French-introduced boules sports seen across former French territories in Southeast Asia and Africa. The game became known locally as bi sắt, and took root first in the south, with early activity concentrated around Ho Chi Minh City, Sóc Trăng, and Vũng Tàu.

Vietnam's national team made its first appearance in international competition at the 21st SEA Games in 2001, and the sport has been a fixture of the Southeast Asian Games program in the decades since. Petanque in Vietnam is organized through the Vietnam Sports Administration rather than an independent single-sport federation with its own public website, a structure distinct from most of Vietnam's neighbors.

World Championship Success

Vietnam's women's team has won the Women's Triples World Championship in both 2023 and 2025, defeating Thailand in the final on both occasions - the first two world titles in the country's petanque history.

• 2023 (Bangkok, Thailand, 23-27 November): Vietnam beat host nation Thailand 13-12 in the final, after defeating France 13-10 in the semi-final, to claim the country's first-ever petanque world title. The winning squad was Trịnh Thị Kim Thanh, Trần Thị Diễm Trang, Thạch Thị Ánh Lan, and Kim Thị Thu Thảo.
• 2025 (Sin-le-Noble, near Douai, France, 9-12 October): Vietnam defended the title in dominant fashion, defeating Thailand 13-1 in the final. Notably, Vietnam had entered two squads in the competition, and its second team eliminated its own first team 13-3 in the quarter-final before beating Belgium 13-10 in the semi-final and Thailand in the final. The champion squad included Nguyễn Thị Thùy Kiều, Nguyễn Thị Thi, and Lại Thị Dung, coached by Đặng Xuân Vui.

Regional and Continental Results

Vietnam is also a consistent force at the region's own multi-sport games:

• SEA Games 33 (Thailand, December 2025): Vietnam's petanque squad won three golds. The first came on 10 December from Nguyễn Văn Dũng, who beat Indonesia's Topan Satria 45-21 in the men's individual precision shooting final - a breakthrough at age 51 after 18 years and seven SEA Games campaigns without a title. Golds followed in men's doubles (Lý Ngọc Tài and Ngô Rôn) and women's pairs (Nguyễn Thị Thi and Nguyễn Thị Thùy Kiều, who beat hosts Thailand in that final too), with three further bronzes in the individual events.
• Asian Pétanque Championships: At the 2024 edition in Chinese Taipei, Trịnh Thị Kim Thanh and Kim Thảo won Vietnam's only gold of the tournament, beating Malaysia 13-5 in the women's doubles final on 24 November - Kim Thanh's second straight continental title after gold in the 2023 women's triples in Malaysia. At the 6th edition (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5-10 November 2025), Vietnam fielded two women's triples squads but came away with silver rather than gold this time: in the final, Cambodia beat Vietnam's B team 13-5 for the title, while Vietnam's A team, having been eliminated by its own B team in the semi-final, settled for bronze. Vietnam added two further bronzes in individual precision shooting - Nguyễn Văn Dũng in the men's event, beaten in the semi-final by Thailand's Khamdee Ratchata, and Thạch Thị Ánh Lan in the women's event, beaten 30-18 by Malaysia's Nur Iman Aina Ahmad Sabti - for a final tally of one silver and three bronze medals.

Where the Sport Is Played

Petanque in Vietnam remains most active in the south, particularly Ho Chi Minh City, alongside a growing competitive scene in Hanoi, home to clubs including Hanoi's own petanque club under coach Đặng Xuân Vui - the same coach behind the 2025 world champion squad. Many of Vietnam's international medalists come from southern provinces such as Bình Dương and Trà Vinh, which have become quiet strongholds for the women's game.

Equipment

Vietnam does not currently have its own FIPJP-recognized competition-boule manufacturer; players and clubs source equipment from established French and regional brands, as is common across most of Southeast Asia outside of Thailand.