World Combat Games

Vietnamese martial artist Bùi Yến Ly (left) competes in the World Combat Games in Saudi Arabia which features 1,500 athletes in 16 different sports. Photo danviet.vn

HÀ NỘI — Bùi Yến Ly will represent Việt Nam at the World Combat Games 2023 in Saudi Arab.

She is among 1,500 athletes from 120 countries and territories competing at the Games which began on October 20 at the Sports Arena of King Saud University in Riyadh and wraps up on October 30.

Athletes will compete in 16 combat sports including Paris 2024 Olympic sports of judo, taekwondo, wrestling, fencing, and boxing.

Other sports that are rarely organised at a large-scale events are aikido, arm wrestling, kendo, sambo, savate, and sumo.

World champion Ly will compete in the women's 51kg category in Muay Thai from October 28-30.

Ly has been an unbeaten champion in domestic competitions since 2012 when she was 17 in Muay Thai and kickboxing, earning 16 titles in national championships and national cups along with golds from the National Sports Games. 

She also amassed an amazing collection of international medals with a gold from the World Games, three world championship golds, one gold at the Asian championship along with SEA Games and ASEAN Beach Games titles.

In her latest event of the 32nd SEA Games in May, Ly pocketed a gold in the women's kun khmer which has similar technique as muay thai.

Other Vietnamese athletes at the Riyadh Games are wushu artists Dương Thúy Vi and Hoàng Thị Phương Giang.

Former world champion Vi took part in the women's combined jianshu and qiangshu. The Asian Games bronze medalist earned 9.656 points and finished fourth.

The top three were  Li Yi of Macau with 9.753 points, Pang Pui Yee of Malaysia with 9.706 points, and Le Yin Shuen from Singapore with 9.680 points.

Former SEA Games champion Giang was fifth in the women's changquan. 

The winner was mainland Chinese Wang Ziwen, followed by Sou Cho Man of Macau, and Tian Robin Mia from the US.

In the previous Games in 2013 in Russia, Việt Nam claimed one silver and one bronze by Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Mai in the women's 56kg, and Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung in the women's 52kg classes in kickboxing. VNS