VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam’s eight-member karate squad has arrived in Nippon Budokan, Tokyo for the World Karate Championships, which kicks off tomorrow.

Vietnamese artists will face tough rivals at the week-long tournament, which has drawn 1,200 competitors from 120 countries and territories around the world.

Vietnamese artists will face tough rivals at the week-long tournament, which has drawn 1,200 competitors from 120 countries and territories around the world. The Vietnamese squad is the cream of the crop, said coach Cong. It includes Doha Asian Games gold medalist Vu Thi Nguyet Anh and World Championship silver medalist Nguyen Hoang Ngan.

Ngan, 24, who was also crowned world champion at the Kobe Osaka International World Cup in Greece in 2006, will perform in the women’s singles event on Thursday. She will later gather with her teammates Dang Thu Ha and Nguyen Thanh Hang to compete in the women’s team event.

Ngan has sustained her form with flawless performances since the 2003 SEA Games in Viet Nam - where she took a team event gold.

The Public Security athlete said she had enough experience to clinch victory against tough rivals in the kata event.

Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Anh will compete in the women’s kumite under-53kg on Saturday. Nicknamed ’little sparrow’ because of her delicate frame, Anh said she never backed down from a fight.

“She follows my exercises in counterattacking very well,” said coach Cong in a phone interview from the National Training Centre No 1 in Ha Noi on Monday. “This has helped her succeed in the SEA Games and the Asian Games. But this is the World Championships and she will have to fight against top athletes from around the world. Anh should compete all out every minute on mat to win.”

The 55-year-old coach added that the squad had been training according to their own regime since early this year. “They have been working on their strengths and weaknesses which will help them show off their power in the kumite weight categories,” said Cong, who was voted one of Viet Nam’s top five outstanding coaches of 2006 and 2007.

(Source: Viet Nam News)