Việt Nam karate team train to prepare for the upcoming Southeast  Asian Games. Photo nhandan.com.vn

SEA Games

HÀ NỘI Although Việt Nam's karate team will be without three key athletes, they're aiming for four gold medals at the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Nguyễn Thị Hồng Anh and Nguyễn Minh Phụng have retired to become coaches, while Nguyễn Thị Ngoan in the Kumite (combat) category is struggling to build up her mental fortitude, so none will compete in the Philippines later this month.

Two years ago, Anh and Phụng won two gold medals at the SEA Games in Myanmar. While SEA Games bronze medallist Ngoan is the world’s leading athlete in the women’s Kumite 61 kg category. Ngoan bagged gold at the Karate 1-Premier League in Halle/Leipzig, Germany in 2017, making her the first Vietnamese martial artist to win the top title in the prestigious tournament.

“We lost three key members. It is a difficulty for the team. They are experienced practicioners and gained high results in international events. However, we have other athletes who are skilled enough to shoulder their duties,” said coach Mai Xuân Lượng.

“The training board still aims to get four gold medals like the previous Games. I hope that Kumite will bring home two or three golds. In this Games, the organising board cut many weight categories which are Việt Nam’s strong point but our target doesn’t change,” Lượng added.

According to Lượng, Việt Nam will send 15 martial artists and four coaches to the Games including nine fighters in Kumite and six in Kata (performance). Athletes will begin their competition on December 7-9.

To prepare for the Games, Kumite team members are training in Iran until November 22. Following this training, they will return the Hà Nội-based National Sports Training Centre before leaving for the Philippines.

The nine-member Kumite team includes Đinh Thị Hương, Trang Cẩm Lành, Hồ Thị Thu Hiền, and Bùi Thị Thảo (female), as well as Nguyễn Văn Hải, Đặng Hồng Sơn, Nguyễn Thanh Duy, Chu Đức Thịnh, and Đỗ Thanh Nhân (male).

Lượng said among them, Hiền and Nhân are expected to shine. Both Hiền and Nhân bagged gold medals in the Games in Myanmar.

Olympics dream

Lượng said Việt Nam prepared for the regional biggest sport event as well as the 2020 Summer Olympics when karate was put into the competition programme for the first time.

“We have worked for a long time and invested strongly for Ngoan. However, she is having some issues, so she retired. Việt Nam nearly don’t have a chance in Kumite. The training board now puts its hopes on Nguyễn Thị Phương in the Kata event,” said Lượng.

Phương took gold medal for the women’s Kata team in the SEA Games two years ago. She also took a bronze at the Asian Karate Federation Senior Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in July.

To qualify for the Olympics, a karateka must rank in the world’s top 10.

According to Vũ Sơn Hà, head of karate section of the National Sports Administration, Phương has been given chances to compete in many international tournaments in the two past years to qualify for the Olympics in Japan.

“At present, there are many athletes from Japan, Spain and France in the world’s top 10. Phương is out of the top 10 but she has a chance to get to the Tokyo Olympics via an event held in France in May next year,” said Hà. VNS