Vietnam Karate determined to protect regional position

The Vietnamese karate team is concentrating on their training at the National High-Level Athlete Training Center. This is considered a pivotal period, as only three months remain until the athletes enter the biggest challenge of the year - the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand.

Vietnam women's kata team won the Gold Medal at the 2025 Asian Karate Championship. (AKF Photo)

Over the past six months, the Vietnamese karate team has continuously participated in many international and national tournaments.

In May, key athletes participated in the 2025 Asian Karate Championship in Uzbekistan and won 3 gold medals and 1 bronze medal. In June, at the 2025 Southeast Asian Karate Championship in Brunei, Vietnam led the delegation with 28 gold medals, 31 silver medals and 17 bronze medals. Also in June, the 2025 National Karate Championship in Hue continued to be a place for the coaching staff to review the force and evaluate the professional capacity of each athlete.

The biggest goal of the Vietnamese karate team is to compete successfully at the 33rd SEA Games.

Head coach Duong Hoang Long

Head coach Duong Hoang Long said: “The biggest goal of the Vietnamese karate team is to compete successfully at the 33rd SEA Games. After the national championship, the players will return to their normal training routine to maintain their physical strength, form and spirit.”

According to the plan, karate at the 33rd SEA Games will have 15 sets of medals, including two kata (form) performance events for men and women, and 13 kumite (combat) events in 7 weight categories for men and 6 weight categories for women. Each country can only register one athlete in an individual event, and is limited to a maximum of four weight categories for men and four weight categories for women. This strict regulation forces the coaching staff of the Vietnamese team to consider carefully when selecting personnel. The reasonable allocation of forces, both ensuring the strong weight categories and calculating tactics, will directly determine the ability to win medals.

Karate is a strong event of Vietnamese sports at the SEA Games. Our martial artists won 7 gold medals at the 31st SEA Games at home in 2022 and 6 gold medals at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia in 2023.

In the most recent competition, the team entered 7 finals and won 6, with notable faces such as Hoang Thi My Tam (55 kg women), Dinh Thi Huong (68 kg women), and collective competitions such as kata and team kumite. The current team still has the participation of familiar champions such as: Hoang Thi My Tam, Dinh Thi Huong, Nguyen Thi Ngoan, Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly and many experienced male martial artists such as Pham Minh Duc, Giang Viet Anh, Le Hong Phuc.

In addition, the coaching staff is accelerating the process of rejuvenating the squad with new players: Truong Nam Tien, Nguyen Thi Bao Ngoc, Nguyen Thi Dao, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu. The combination of experience and youth is expected to create a balanced squad for immediate and long-term goals.

The success at the recent 2025 Southeast Asian Karate Championship helped the Vietnamese karate team affirm its position as the number one in the region. The tournament gathered 424 athletes from 9 countries and our karate team led by a large distance compared to the remaining delegations. This is considered a practical test before the 33rd SEA Games when most of the teams in the region brought their strongest forces to the tournament.

On the continental level, three gold medals at the 2025 Asian Championships are also a positive sign. Hoang Thi My Tam successfully defended her title in the women's 55 kg category and won the gold medal in the team kumite with her teammates, while the women's kata team continued to assert their strength. The Vietnamese team ranked third overall, just behind the two Asian karate powerhouses, Japan and Kazakhstan. This achievement reflects the quality and progress of the team over many consecutive years.

Currently, the training atmosphere of karate athletes at the National Training Center for High-Level Athletes is quite comfortable. The athletes all show confidence, but not complacency. Our Asian and Southeast Asian champions still train with high intensity, not allowing themselves to be satisfied with their achievements too soon.

However, Coach Duong Hoang Long was still quite cautious when commenting: “At the Southeast Asian Karate Championship, we observed that the teams in the region all invested heavily. Therefore, the coaching staff must carefully consider each weight class to have the most reasonable strategy.” The current strategy is to combine maintaining the form of experienced athletes with giving opportunities to compete for young forces. The upcoming Asian youth tournaments and world championships will be a place for young athletes to accumulate experience, preparing for both the 33rd SEA Games and the 2026 Asian Games.

An important factor in the recent success of Vietnamese karate is the financial support from localities. Mr. Vu Son Ha, in charge of the karate department (Vietnam Sports Administration) said: About 60% of the funding for participating in international competitions comes from local budgets and socialized sources. This helps athletes have more opportunities to compete, contributing to improving their level and achievements. The specific goal set by the coaching staff is quite "modest", which is 2 to 3 gold medals at the 33rd SEA Games. This is considered a reasonable number, based on the strength and fierce competition in the region. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and host Thailand are all big opponents.

In fact, Southeast Asian karate has seen consistent improvement in recent years, meaning every match can be a challenge. With the weight class restrictions, selecting the right team is crucial.

SEA Games 33 is also an important stepping stone for Vietnamese karate to prepare for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan. This will be a place to fully test the team's abilities and open up opportunities to reach the continental and even world level. Perseverance and seriousness in training, combined with the accumulated results from many tournaments, show that Vietnamese karate is on the journey to maintain the number one position in the region and aim for new heights. The achievements are the foundation, but the challenges ahead are not small. Therefore, SEA Games 33 will be an important test that both affirms and opens up future prospects.

MINH GIANG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/karate-viet-nam-quyet-tam-bao-ve-vi-the-khu-vuc-post913639.html