Wushu

Dương Thúy Vi performs wushu at the 32nd SEA Games in May in Cambodia where she won gold. She is Việt Nam's key competitor at the World Wushu Championship in the US. VNS Photo Quý Lượng

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese athletes will compete at the World Wushu Championships from November 16-20 in Texas, the US.

This signature event, held every two years, is expected to attract  up to 800 athletes from more than 80 countries and territories from Asia, Europe, Africa, Pan America and Oceania and around 30,000 spectators.

It will showcase the world’s top champions displaying a wide range of wushu disciplines, from dazzling swordplay, ethereal tai chi and bone-crunching full-contact sanda fighting in the Fort Worth Convention Centre. 

Việt Nam's 13 strong team will compete in both taolu (performance) and sanda (combat) events.

Among them Dương Thúy Vi and Hoàng  Thị Phương Giang are the most experienced who are expected to bring the best results.

Vi has world titles twice in 2013 and 2017 along with six silver and three bronze medals. She has also topped podiums at various international competitions such as World Games, Asian Games, Asian Championship and SEA Games.

Giang has performed wushu internationally for more than a decade. She is a four-time medallist in the World Wushu Championships, double bronze medallist in the Taolu World Cup, and double silver medallist in the Asian Wushu Championships. Giang is also a regular top-three finisher at the Asian Games and SEA Games.

Nguyễn Thị Lan of Việt Nam (left) competes in the women's sanda 49kg final. VNS Photo Hoàng Linh

Other medal hopes are Nguyễn Thị Lan in the women's sanda 48kg and Nông Văn Hữu in the men's taolu who are 32nd SEA Games champions.

The rest of the team are young talents who will gain more experience from the world highest level of wushu.

The world tournament returns after five years. The previous event was held in Shanghai, China in October 2019. 

In China, Việt Nam won one gold through Nguyễn Thị Chinh in the women's sanda 48kg and two silver medals for Vi in her qiangshu (spear) and jianshu (sword) performance. VNS