Khanh Hoa's muay Thai team finished the National Muay Thai Club Competition with an encouraging result, placing third on the final medal standings.
Khanh Hoa’s muay Thai team finished the National Muay Thai Club Competition with an encouraging result, placing third on the final medal standings.
The competition took place at the multifunctional sports hall of Nha Trang University from May 18 to 23 with the participation of over 200 male and female athletes of 22 localities and units over the country. The athletes competed in eight weight categories for women and eleven weight categories for men. Khanh Hoa’s team took part in the tournament with not many athletes and was not considered as a relatively strong opponent. Therefore, the result of third place surprised and excited the team’s coach and athletes, as said by Ly Hoang Phong, coach of Khanh Hoa’s muay Thai team.
In Vietnam, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Phuoc Province, and the Ministry of Public Security are the localities and unit where muay Thai has strongly developed. Besides these strong teams, the 2019 National Muay Thai Club Competition was joined by many new provincial teams from Lang Son, Lao Cai, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, etc. Athletes Le Hoang Duc and Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat (Ho Chi Minh City), and Bui Yen Ly (Hanoi) were the gold winners at many international muay Thai competitions; they continued to assert their positions in Vietnam’s muay Thai contests with gold medals at this year’s national club competition.
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Muay Thai just started to be practiced in Khanh Hoa Province some years ago. Although the provincial team got quite good results at some national competitions, this sport has still not developed well in the province. With just eight male and female athletes taking part in the 2019 National Muay Thai Club Competition, the host Khanh Hoa only targeted one gold medal of athlete Nguyen Trung Kien (men’s 81kg) who gained golds at the 2017 national tournament and 2018 national sports festival. Unfortunately, Kien got injured and could not compete at his best at this year’s tournament.
Huynh Hoang Phi brought first gold medal for Khanh Hoa’s muay Thai team in men’s 54kg. The next two golds came from men’s 67kg and women’s 63.5kg. The muay Thai athletes of Khanh Hoa also won two silver medals and one bronze medal, contributing to the success of Khanh Hoa’s muay Thai at the National Muay Thai Club Tournament 2019. Hanoi finished first with five golds, one silver, and one bronze. Ho Chi Minh City ranked number two with three golds, four silvers, and one bronze.
An Nhien
Translated by H.N
