Boxing

Nguyễn Thị Tâm of Việt Nam becomes champion of the women's light flyweight 50kg category at the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships on November 11 in Amman, Jordan. Photo courtesy of ASBC

HÀ NỘI — Giant-killer Nguyễn Thị Tâm won her second continental title after winning at the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships on November 11 in Amman, Jordan.

The Vietnamese No. 1 boxer defeated Japanese rival Tsukimi Namiki 30-27 after three rounds at the women's light flyweight 50kg category.

Although she was not given a high-ranking seed, she was appreciated by the organisers as she had won here in 2017.

Namiki was considered a tough rival for Tâm as the Japanese secured a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics.

Tâm, meanwhile, was defeated in her first match of the Tokyo Games.

Against Namiki, Tâm was taller with a longer arm span but she could not make use of her advantage in the first round.

A scoreboard of the women's light flyweight 50kg category final.

Namiki tried her best to get close to Tâm and landed powerful punches to score more points and win the first round.

In the second round, Tâm did a better job, landing jabs and hooks from both hands to successfully score points, and levelled the match, one round each.

Her tactic worked well while Namiki struggled to resist Tam's attacks in the decisive third round. Three judges decided to award Tâm the win while Namiki received nods from two.

Earlier, the 28-year-old overcame No. 3 seed Kang Do-yeon from South Korea in the semi-finals. She had beaten No. 1 Yokubova Aziza of Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals and the Philippines' Aira Cordero Villegas in the first round.

Tâm was the only athlete from Việt Nam to advance to the final match.

Her teammate, Nguyễn Thị Hương, competed in the women's light heavyweight 81kg category. She was beaten by No 1 seed Gulsaya Yerzhan of Kazakhstan in the quarter-final round and received a bronze. VNS