SEA Games wrestling has VAR but weight classes are cut, Vietnam's gold mine is greatly affected

Thailand drastically cuts wrestling weight classes

SEA Games 33 will see a big change when the number of wrestling weight categories is reduced from 30 to 12. Therefore, the medal target of the Vietnamese wrestling team is reduced by nearly half compared to two years ago. This reduction is causing many concerns for athletes and coaching staff. Vietnamese wrestlers won a total of 17 gold medals in 18 weight categories at SEA Games 31 and 13 gold medals in 30 weight categories at SEA Games 32. At the Southeast Asian Championship in Singapore in May, the wrestling team won 24 gold medals. It was a great result that affirmed the No. 1 position of Vietnamese wrestling in Southeast Asia.

'Mỏ vàng' Vật bị cắt giảm hạng cân tại SEA Games 33: Khó nhưng vẫn tốp đầu - Ảnh 1. — Coaches Nguyen Van Chuc, Tran The Anh, Bui Tuan Anh and 8 male wrestlers will participate in SEA Games 33 including Pham Nhu Duy (57 kg), Nguyen Huu Dinh (65 kg), Can Tat Du (74 kg), Tran Van Truong Vu (86 kg) of classical wrestling and Bui Manh Hung (67 kg), Nguyen Cong Manh (77 kg), Nghiem Dinh Hieu (87 kg) and Nguyen Minh Hieu (97 kg) of freestyle wrestling.

However, at the upcoming SEA Games in Thailand (wrestling is scheduled to be held on the last 3 days of November 17-19 in Songkhla), the host has cut the strengths of many countries, the most affected of which is Vietnam. From 30 weight classes 2 years ago, there are now only 12 weight classes (including 4 classical wrestling, 4 men's freestyle wrestling and 4 women's freestyle wrestling). Many strengths that Vietnam once won gold medals very sweetly, such as the 2 weight classes of 50 and 59 kg women's freestyle wrestling or 55, 60 and 72 kg classical wrestling at the 32nd SEA Games, have been cut down without hesitation. It is this reduction in weight classes that will make the competition more fierce and unpredictable. Because in addition to cutting the strengths of Vietnam and Indonesia, the 2 strongest countries in wrestling, the Thais will target the weight classes that they hope to promote the home advantage to psychologically influence their opponents.

'Mỏ vàng' Vật bị cắt giảm hạng cân tại SEA Games 33: Khó nhưng vẫn tốp đầu - Ảnh 2. — American expert demonstrates training sessions for women's freestyle wrestling team

According to Coach Nguyen Van Chuc and Bui Tuan An, currently some countries have been advocating naturalization, bringing in new "bloodlines", which will increase opportunities in some weight classes they participate in. Some "strange" wrestlers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia have begun to appear. This will certainly cause a lot of difficulties for the Vietnamese wrestling team. The coaches commented: "The competition for achievements will become more and more difficult. Opponents are getting stronger in many aspects while we are being controlled in the content of our participation, so the upcoming battle will be very difficult. In recent congresses, we always won 2/3 of the medals or more. But this time, our target is only nearly half, meaning only 5-6 gold medals, trying to maintain our top position".

'Mỏ vàng' Vật bị cắt giảm hạng cân tại SEA Games 33: Khó nhưng vẫn tốp đầu - Ảnh 3. — Coach Nguyen Van Chuc closely guides each athlete's movements.

Golden hopes, the goal is ASIAD

Despite being heavily affected by the reduction in weight classes, coaches and athletes are still confident that they will complete the assigned targets. This was clearly seen in the training sessions of the 3 men's, women's freestyle and classical wrestling teams at the High-Level Athletes Training Center (Nhon) over the past weekend. From those who won gold medals at the previous SEA Games such as Hue sisters Nguyen Thi My Trang, Nguyen Thi My Hanh or Can Tat Du of freestyle wrestling to those who won silver medals in Cambodia such as Nghiem Dinh Hieu, Bui Manh Hung of classical wrestling. Or new factors such as Pham Nhu Duy (57 kg freestyle wrestling) all showed determination, desire to perform and train themselves to have a stable mentality when entering the upcoming tough arena.

'Mỏ vàng' Vật bị cắt giảm hạng cân tại SEA Games 33: Khó nhưng vẫn tốp đầu - Ảnh 4. — The women's team increased the intensity of their daily training.

They are all the golden hopes of the Vietnamese wrestling team. Fortunately, all 12 wrestlers have been thoroughly trained over the past time under the dedicated guidance of coaches Nguyen Van Chuc, Ta Ngoc Tan, Nguyen The Anh, Bui Tuan Anh, Tran Van Son. In particular, the women's freestyle wrestling team has American expert Bill Sullival, who has helped the Vietnamese girls significantly improve their physical strength, skills and competition tactics. They are becoming more and more confident, always have high concentration and approach each match well. The team's coaching staff hopes to create a strong push from this SEA Games to aim for achievements at the 2026 ASIAD in Japan.

'Mỏ vàng' Vật bị cắt giảm hạng cân tại SEA Games 33: Khó nhưng vẫn tốp đầu - Ảnh 5. — The athletes practiced very enthusiastically.

At the SEA Games in Thailand 18 years ago, wrestler Le Duy Hoi was defeated in a humiliating manner at the Nakhon Ratchasima stadium. Despite dominating and continuously scoring points, he had to accept a silver medal in the end. Mr. Hoang Quoc Vinh, Head of the High Performance Sports Department of the Vietnam Sports Administration, said: "That will not happen at this SEA Games or other international competitions because the scoring method of wrestling is now digital, using precise machines. Athletes can easily demonstrate their abilities because wrestling has VAR, so it is very fair. After only 2 seconds without attacking or showing signs of running around, they will be warned and then if they repeat the offense, points will be deducted. The scores are shown very clearly. Therefore, watching wrestling now is very interesting because athletes have to continuously attack and strike to control their opponents."