Karate

Hoàng Thị Mỹ Tâm of Việt Nam (left) trounce Iranian Borjali Leila 8-1 in the women's kumite team final of the Asian Karate Championship on July 23 in Malaysia. Việt Nam won 2-0 to take the gold medal. Photo of AKF

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam won a gold medal from the 19th Asian Karate Championship which closed in Malaysia on July 23.

A team of four girls topped the podium after beating their Iranian rivals 2-0 in the women's kumite (combat) team event final.

The Vietnamese athletes needed only two matches to complete their win on the last day of the competition.

Nguyễn Thị Ngoan defeated Golshadnezhad Atousa 3-0 before former Asian champion Hoàng Thị Mỹ Tâm beat Borjali Leila 8-1.

Việt Nam won over Nepal, mainland China and Hong Kong in the previous rounds.

It was the second time in three years that the Vietnamese fighters took the gold. The first time was in 2021 while in 2022 they finished at the second place.

Also on July 23, trio Nguyễn Thị Phương, Lưu Thị Thu Uyên and Nguyễn Ngọc Trâm secured a silver in the women's kata (performance) team event.

They lost to powerful Japan in the final match.

Meanwhile, the men's team made history with the first-ever bronze medal at the continental tournament. They beat Hong Kong in the third-place playoff.

The gold went to Japan while Kuwait bagged the silver.

Earlier, Văng Thị Ngọc Mỹ pocketed a silver in the women's 68kg kumite event.

Mỹ overcame Yu Yan-yi 1-0 of Chinese Taipei in the first round, and Ho Kai Yan of Hong Kong 2-0 in the second round.

In the semi-finals, she beat mainland Chinese Xu Qi Qi 8-2. In the final, Mỹ presented many challenges to Sofya Berultseva of Kazakhstan before losing 0-1 for the silver medal.

Berultseva's gold contributed to Kazakhstan's top place in the medal tally with three golds, four silvers and four bronzes.

Japan and Iran came second and third, respectively. Việt Nam with one gold, two silvers and one bronze placed No 6 in a total of 30 participating countries and territories. VNS