LookAtVietnam – Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat seems to be one of the most special kickboxers in Viet Nam.

He surprised several people when he triumphed in the men’s under-57kg category at a Pre-Asian Indoor Games’ kickboxing tournament in HCM City in July.

The Khanh Hoa Province-born fighter defeated a Thai boxer in the final match and contributed to Viet Nam’s overall second place finish.

“Nhat competed very well, and maintained his composure throughout the tournament. With solid technique and rapid speed, Nhat is certainly a competitive contender in any competition,” said Santiphap Intaraphartn, chairman of the Asian Kickboxing Federation.

Nhat was born into a family that had a tradition of studying martial arts. His grandfather Nguyen Tran Dieu, father Nguyen Tran Dieu and uncle Nguyen Tran Duy were very famous martial artists in the central province.

His mother, Master Minh Anh Ngoc, was also a famous martial artist in Nha Trang. She was the orthodox trainee of Master Minh Canh, who was the former Indochina boxing champion in the 1970s.

As the only child of the family, he was raised in this martial arts environment and received support from family members.

As a young boy, he was strongly inspired by the achievements of his forefathers and started training at the age of 12. Two years later, Nhat made a big bang at a traditional martial arts festival in Lam Dong Province when he beat all of his rivals before being defeated at the final match by a 28-year-old fighter. To take part in this event, Nhat had to lie that he was 18. Since that loss, he has triumphed in all provincial martial arts tournaments and has also won in boxing events as well.

Nhat has never taken part in any national tournaments, but has spent more time studying martial arts. He became a student of the HCM City Sports College’s Martial Arts Department last May, where he was further trained.

Nhat was also chosen by HCM City’s kickboxing team managers to compete with their team.

Despite being a newcomer to the sport, Nhat quickly proved to be a fast learner with the fighting style.

In a two-month training course in Thailand, Nhat surprised all of his team-mates and coaches with his outstanding performance that helped the team bring home a victory trophy from the King’s Cup tournament, after beating a Japanese rival in the final match.

But to the young fighter the most impressive moments were when he defeated two professional rivals during his time here.

“He has a good foundation because he has experience and training in traditional martial arts and boxing before he learned kickboxing, which provided him with favourable conditions to become a champion,” said coach Giap Trung Thang of the national team.

“He has always been admired at the international tournaments that he competed in, and I believe that Nhat can win a gold medal at this AIG,” Thang said.

Nhat and his team-mates started their qualifying round today at the HCM City’s Rach Mieu Gymnasium. The finals are scheduled for Saturday.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News