LookAtVietnam – Vietnam bagged a second gold at the Asian Martial Arts Games in Thailand with a win in wushu&kungfu, a demonstration sport.

Photo: VNA

The win lifted Vietnam to eighth on the overall ranking with two silvers and four bronzes alongside the golds.

Taekwondo artist Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu won Vietnam’s first gold on August 4.

South Korea toped the medal tally with nine golds, four silvers and two bronze from Kazakhstan and Japan.

Taekwondo’s Nghiem Thi Huyen was Viet Nam’s only martial artist in action. In the women’s featherweight (55-59kg) she beat Jordanian Matar Alyasar 2-1, but lost to China’s Lei Jie, 5-3, in a semi-final.

Vietnamese martial artist did well in pencak silat with Le Thi Phi Nga beating Souda Vong Boutsady, of Laos, 5-0 in a quarter-final of the women’s A (45-50kg), while Huynh Thi Thu Hong beat Thailand’s Noytapa Jitara in a women’s B (0-55kg) semi-final.

Several Vietnamese kick-boxers qualified for semi-finals but Nguyen Ke Nhon lost to Kazakhstan’s Omarov Yerkebulanm 3-0, in the full contact-51kg men’s division.

In low-kick events, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung, who earlier beat Bangladeshi Sultana Sharmin, lost to namuangchan Wilaiwan, of Thailand, 2-1 un a semi-final of the women’s 52kg class while Do Van Thong was beaten by Kazak Kudaibergenov Baurzhan (57kg men) and Nguyen Van Duc was downed by Kemal Amanov, of Turkmenistan (63.5kg men).

In the full contact-56kg women, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai beat Jahan Heen Nasreen of Indonesia, to reach August 6’s final.

In muay Thai, Le Huu Phuc lost to Zeuaphom Thongbang, of Laos, in the semi-final of men’s bantamweight (51-54kg), while Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat beat Uzbek Sharipov Sherzod in a semi-final of men’s featherweight (54-57kg).

Vietnam is among 40 countries at the nine-day event. For Vietnamese competitors, the Games are vital preparation for November’s third Asian Indoor Games in their homeland and the 25th Southeast Asian Games a month later in Laos.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News