Is there any truth to the claim that the referee unfairly penalized the Vietnamese Pencak Silat fighter?

TPO - In the semi-finals of the -60kg weight category in Pencak Silat, Vietnamese martial artist Vu Van Kien was declared the loser despite leading his Thai opponent by nearly 20 points.

On the morning of December 16th, in the semi-finals of the -60kg weight category in Pencak Silat, Vietnamese martial artist Vu Van Kien dominated his Thai opponent, leading by nearly 20 points. In a situation where the Thai athlete had to take the initiative to attack to reverse the situation, Van Kien seized the opportunity to land a precise leg strike to the abdomen.

Immediately, the Thai fighter fell to the ground, clutching his face in apparent pain, then held his neck tightly with his hand, prompting medical personnel to come onto the field to attend to him. Shortly after, the referee unexpectedly declared Van Kien the loser for landing a dangerous blow to his opponent.

The Vietnamese fighter collapsed onto the ring, sobbing uncontrollably. He tried to stand up but fell back down, covering his face and weeping. In the end, Van Kien could only leave with the help of his coach, his face drenched in tears.

After calming down, Van Kien shared that he was "very self-reproachful, thinking that if only he had been calmer and not been so aggressive, victory would have been assured." "That situation was quite sensitive," he said, "In my personal opinion, my foot hit his shoulder, but my toes slightly touched his neck. It was a 50-50 situation, a fine line between scoring and fouling. I accept the referee's decision."

Therefore, Van Kien himself didn't think the referee was biased, but rather considered it a difficult situation to make an accurate decision, one side could lean towards the other. Unfortunately, the final ruling was unfavorable to him.

"I'm very sorry because this was my last chance to win the SEA Games gold medal that I value so much," Van Kien confided with regret.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/co-hay-khong-chuyen-trong-tai-xu-ep-vo-sy-pencak-silat-viet-nam-post1805071.tpo