After competing successfully in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos, Vietnamese judokas will compete in the continental 16th Asian Games in China.

Vietnamese judokas Van Ngoc Tu (upper) deals a blow to beat a Lao athlete in the women’s 48kg class final of the Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane last week. Tu won the gold medal.

Vietnamese martial artists overcame strong rivals from Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar to prove their power in judo, winning seven golds, one silver and five bronze at the SEA Games. They also won six gold and four bronze in the kumite (combat) event. That was the team’s best result since the SEA Games were held in Viet Nam six years ago.

Viet Nam also dominated the pre-SEA Games tournament in August in Laos with eleven gold, four silver and one bronze.

Ly Dai Nghia, general secretary of the Viet Nam Judo Federation (VJF) and Southeast Asian Judo Federation said: “We are very happy with the judo team’s success in Laos, however, we are not satisfied with that achievement. We think we have a good chance to succeed in China and the London 2012 Olympics.”

Specific training

Among six martial artists who won golds in the combat event, experts say that Van Ngoc Tu (women’s 48kg), Nguyen Thi Kieu (women’s 52kg), Huynh Nhat Thong (men’s 55kg), and Nguyen Quoc Hung (men’s 66kg) are the most competitive judokas who displayed convincing performances at the SEA Games.

The country’s top judoka Tu won by ippon (one ippon point equals ten normal points) in consecutive Games. She also won silver medals at the Asian championships two years ago and the recent Asian Martial Arts Games in Bangkok, Thailand.

“Due to their outstanding performances, the VJF will apply to the National Sports Administration for specific training plans,” Nghia said.

“They will train and compete abroad to sharpen their skills and gain more experience in preparation for the Asian Games next year.”

Competing in many events, Vietnamese martial artists are expected to gain enough points to secure berths at the London Olympics.

Viet Nam had only one judoka, Cao Ngoc Phuong Trinh, compete in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Changes in competition

The Southeast Asian Judo Federation has decided that in the next SEA Games in Indonesia, the performance event will be replaced by the team event. This change has been implemented in Asian and world tournaments.

In other news, judokas who attack below the belt will be disqualified from competition, according to a new World Judo Federation rule.

Facing these changes, the VJF will co-ordinate with the Viet Nam Sports Administration to hold training classes for referees early next year.

The VJF will also send it’s referees to attend international referee training classes and organise some events to prepare for the Games in Indonesia.

Although judo is practised in 30 provinces and cities nationwide, it draws only 3,000 martial artists. HCM City accounts for one third.

VietNamNet/VNS