At the 33rd National Traditional Martial Art Tournament held recently in Gia Lai, the application of the newly revised and supplemented competition rules by Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts Federation made the medal competition between the teams intense. However, thanks to careful preparation, the traditional martial arts team of Khanh Hoa Province overcame challenges to bring home medals.
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| Khanh Hoa athletes win gold medal in demonstrative event |
The 33rd National Traditional Martial Art Tournament, taking place from September 17 to 25 was organized by Sports Authority of Vietnam in coordination with Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts Federation and Gia Lai Provincial Department of Culture and Sports. It attracted nearly 700 referees, coaches, and athletes from 32 teams from provinces, cities, and sectors across the country.
According to experts, this has been the national traditional martial art tournament with the largest scale and highest professional quality ever. Specifically, the tournament brought together over 500 athletes (the most compared to previous years) and implemented many new elements in its format, creating a strong and positive change in the competition for medals between the athletes and teams.
The biggest change was the increase in age and weight categories in combat event. With the implementation of the newly revised competition rules by Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts Federation, the organizers raised the age limit from 17 to 40 years old (18 to 35 years old in the previous tournaments); the weight categories for combat event were also expanded, with the difference between each weight category ranging from 3 to 5 kg (instead of 5 kg as before). In demonstrative event, the age limit for this year's tournament was from 17 to 40 years old (from 18 years old and above, no limit in the previous tournaments). In addition, the organizing committee added new events with 2 age categories: from 41 to 50 years old and from 51 to 60 years old. With this addition, the tournament allowed 58 martial arts masters to take part in demonstrative event as athletes. The participation of the masters with their skillful martial arts performances created excitement for the young athletes and helped to promote the nation’s traditional martial art.
The format for the demonstrative event also had many new points. Specifically, single-elimination format was applied instead of point system like the previous tournaments. An athlete might have to compete up to three matches for gold medals; the number of bronze medals was also increased from 1 to 2 per event, depending on the number of athletes.
Khanh Hoa’s traditional martial art team took part in the 2024 tournament with 20 athletes. Acknowledging the challenges for medals due to the implementation of the new rules, since June, the coaches urgently encouraged the athletes to train at high intensity. Khanh Hoa’s team overcame difficulties and won 9 medals, including 1 gold medal, 3 silver medals and 5 bronze medals. “Compared to previous years, this year’s competition for medals is very fierce, especially in demonstrative event. We had to try our best to defeat the strong teams from Binh Dinh Province, Ho Chi Minh City, the Army, etc. to claim the gold medals”, said athlete Trinh Kien Cuong of Khanh Hoa.
Among 25 teams in demonstrative event, only 9 teams won gold medals. Khanh Hoa ranked 7th overall.
An Nhien
Translated by H.N
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