Trio Vu Ba Dong, Nguyen Tien Phuong and Tran Thu Ha will join 370 athletes from 36 nations at the World Championships in aerobic gymnastics in Sofia, Bulgaria, from May 31-June 3.

They will compete in the individual men's and women's, mixed pairs and trios events.

The three Vietnamese will be up against powerhouses China, Romania and France along with growing Russia and the Republic of Korea.

Two other athletes Truong Khanh Linh and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will also compete in the event.

The championships will serve as a qualifying event for the ninth World Games, to be held in Cali, Colombia, next year, where the aerobic gymnastics is one of the most popular competitions.

The Vietnamese team is expected to be a dark horse at the tournament following their great progress in regional and international competitions recently.

Ha and Dong pocketed a gold medal in the mixed pairs at the Suzuki World Cup, held in Tokyo, Japan in April.

They also managed to win a silver medal in the trio category, performing with Phuong, who won gold at the World Youth Sport Aerobic tournament./.