Martial arts, athletics start strong

Once a "gold mine" of Vietnamese sports , the karate team promises to explode in the coming days when there are still 8 kumite (combat) events whose achievement target has now been completed by 50% of the gold medals. Karate called, Vovinam also responded with an extremely convincing victory by martial artist Le Thi Hien when she overcame all formidable opponents, including the host martial artist Cambodia in the semi-finals. Although it is a "national martial art", it is not easy for the Vietnamese Vovinam team to assert their "dominance" when the surrounding countries, neighboring countries have all strongly developed this type of martial art. This is a good thing for the future of Vovinam.

The 5th gold medal of the day, won by Tran Hung Nguyen from the 200m mixed green track, is an affirmation of the dominance of Olympic sports that Vietnam is boldly aiming for. Previously, the "little pepper" athlete Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc had written a new chapter for herself with the 5th SEA Games championship in the women's 20km walk. Thanh Phuc's victory would be more complete if her younger brother Nguyen Thanh Ngung could also bring home the gold medal in the men's 20km walk because this dream final result belonged to Hendro Hendro (Indonesia).

Tran Hung Nguyen successfully defended his gold medal in the men's 200m medley. Photo: NGOC LINH

Three of the first four gold medals in athletics all belonged to Indonesia (before that, the two gold medals in the men's and women's marathons were won by athletes from the archipelago country), which is more or less a warning that the 32nd SEA Games is not a playground for Vietnamese athletics to dominate as in the 3 games since 2017. Despite careful preparation by being present in Siem Reap for 3 weeks of training to get used to the track and climate, Vietnamese runners still could not fully demonstrate their strength. Witnessing Hoang Nguyen Thanh and Le Thi Tuyet struggling to win silver or bronze medals and Nguyen Thi Ninh having to breathe with an oxygen tank when reaching the finish line, one can see the fierceness of the competition.

Lessons from marathons and race walking are something that Vietnamese athletes must pay special attention to in the coming days when the scorching hot weather in Cambodia will be a factor preventing athletes from reaching success.

TAO TUNG (from Phnom Penh)

Source: https://nld.com.vn/the-thao/vo-thuat-dien-kinh-khoi-dau-manh-me-20230506221109277.htm