Vietnamese Taekwondo surpasses its limits.

Vietnamese Taekwondo surpasses its limits.

A truly unfair trial, typical of the "SEA Games"

5 million VND is the amount that Taekwondo team leader Nguyen Thu Trang and coach Nguyen Minh Tu paid as a fee and filed a complaint with the organizing committee, due to their disagreement with the judging panel's scoring in the mixed doubles poomsae event on the first day of competition at the 33rd SEA Games.

The performances of athletes Nguyen Thi Kim Ha and Nguyen Trong Phuc were significantly less flawed than those of the two athletes from Singapore. However, the judging panel, headed by someone from Singapore itself, turned a blind eye, awarding the Singaporean team 8.84 and 8.5 points – higher than Kim Ha and Trong Phuc, who only received 8.5 and 8.38 points.

The joy of the Vietnamese Taekwondo athlete after winning the gold medal.

Faced with the unethical officiating of the refereeing team, Trong Phuc and Kim Ha burst into tears in the休息 room. Outside the arena, despite the strong reaction from the leaders of the Vietnamese Taekwondo team, the refereeing team acted as if they saw nothing.

“They stole the gold medal from Vietnam and gave it to Singapore,” exclaimed a Southeast Asian reporter. “It doesn’t matter which team wins, but the referees’ scoring is flawed. They ignored three clear technical fouls by two Singaporean athletes. The Philippines are also upset and have filed a complaint with the organizing committee because they are unhappy with the biased scoring in favor of Singapore in the semi-final,” said Coach Minh Tú.

Notably, besides Vietnam, the Philippines also sued the referee for inaccurate scoring in the semi-final match, after suffering an unfair defeat with the same score against Singapore. Philippine Taekwondo Federation President Tolentino stated: "The Philippines has filed a lawsuit due to unfair scoring. The win-loss result is not important, but the referee must be fair. We are very upset that the referee refused to provide video footage."

Notably, the Vietnamese and Philippine Taekwondo teams collected video recordings of the matches to submit to the organizing committee. However, the referees adamantly refused to accept this as evidence. They cited various reasons regarding the authenticity of the video but also refused to review the technical video to verify and clarify the matter.

By 1:30 PM that same day, the unprofessional procrastination of the referees had left everyone disheartened. Vietnamese Taekwondo had to settle for a silver medal, albeit with bitter disappointment. The beginning of this sport unfolded in such a difficult and arduous way.

Overwhelmed, pushing aside frustration.

However, there was no second instance of blatant biased scoring from the referees against the Vietnamese Taekwondo team, as the group of five Vietnamese athletes performed flawlessly and artistically against Myanmar, the Philippines, and even host nation Thailand to win the Gold Medal in the creative team event at the 33rd SEA Games.

This was one of the first four gold medals won by the Vietnamese sports delegation at the 33rd SEA Games, coming from a group of five athletes: Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Tram Dang Khoa, Tran Ho Duy, Le Tran Kim Uyen, Nguyen Phan Khanh Han, and Nguyen Thi Y Binh in the creative team event of Taekwondo.

The athletes performed the movements with great skill and precision, demonstrating a high level of difficulty. On numerous occasions, when the Vietnamese athletes executed the powerful and decisive aerial "scissors" kick, the entire arena rose to their feet in applause. Witnessing the audience's overwhelming praise, which amounted to a perfect score, the referees, who had previously unfairly penalized the Vietnamese Taekwondo team in a previous event, could not change their minds.

The five Vietnamese athletes scored 8.06 points, significantly more than host Thailand's 7.940 points. This is the first gold medal for Vietnamese Taekwondo at the 33rd SEA Games. It is also a well-deserved reward for the efforts and frustrations that Vietnamese Taekwondo had endured beforehand.

Nevertheless, the efforts of the five Taekwondo athletes later relieved the frustration in the hearts of the Vietnamese team. Feelings of regret and anger, which had been suppressed, finally erupted with the gold medal in the final creative team event.

“We were very nervous, not knowing if the team could win. But the team encouraged each other, telling ourselves to just do our best in the competition,” female athlete Nguyen Phan Khanh Han said, sobbing. “During the training period, the team tried their best. The first competition is always a challenge. Moreover, one of the team members is injured.”

She continued: “We were very worried about whether we would be able to complete the performance. On the competition field, I encouraged everyone to just practice their best, using what they had and showing on the field, trying not to make any mistakes and completing the performance to the best of their ability.”

Nguyen Xuan Thanh shared the same sentiment: “This is my first time participating in the SEA Games. The feeling is overwhelming and hard to describe. To achieve this gold medal, my teammates and I, as well as the coaching staff, went through many ups and downs and difficulties in training. So when we won, we were very happy and joyful.”

Xuan Thanh concluded: “At the 33rd SEA Games, Taekwondo had some new requirements, with the creative five-person team event. We spent about six months to ten months learning each new technique in the performance. It's wonderful that the team achieved the Gold Medal.”

What did the Vietnamese Taekwondo athlete say after losing the gold medal due to the referee's decision?

"I'm a little disappointed because I could have brought home the first gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation," said athlete Nguyen Thi Kim Ha. "But the silver medal also makes me happy because all the hard work I and my teammates and teachers put in has been rewarded. And I will strive harder for the next event. When the results came out, I felt a sense of regret. Everyone could see how the two teams performed. I'm a little disappointed that the result wasn't as expected. But now that event is over, I will be more determined in the next one."

Kim Ha also said that the coaching staff encouraged her and the whole team after the defeat. "The coaching staff told us that we must be determined to give our all, we cannot be discouraged and give up. We must focus all our efforts and be more determined in the next events," Kim Ha shared.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/taekwondo-viet-nam-vuot-qua-cuc-han-i790812/