Vietnamese national taekwondo team poses for photos before leaving Manila with 27 gold medals from the 16th ASEAN Taekwondo Championship in the Philippines. Photo courtesy of Nguyên Thanh Huy

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese national taekwondo team came home on May 14 as the top performer at the 16th ASEAN Taekwondo Championship in the Philippines.

After three days of competition, Việt Nam grabbed 27 gold medals in both kyorugi (combat) and poomsae (performance) events.

In the senior kyorugi, the team secured 10 golds, four silvers and six bronzes. Among the winners were Olympian Trương Thị Kim Tuyền, two-time SEA Games winner Bạc Thị Khiêm and SEA Games silver medalist Lý Hồng Phúc.

The senior poomsae athletes took home three golds by Nguyễn Hồ Cẩm Giang and Ngô Văn Thông in the mixed pair freestyle, Nguyễn Phan Khánh Hân in the individual female freestyle and Nguyễn Thị Kim Hà in the individual female recognised poomsae events.

The other medals were won by junior martial artists.

The Philippines came second with 21 golds while Indonesia was third with five golds.

About 380 athletes, officials and international referees from the eight country-member association participated in the event from March 10-12 at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay Hotel in Manila. VNS