Hue Taekwondo athlete scooped a gold at the National Youth Taekwondo Championship 2020
Great achievements
It came as no surprise when Taekwondo was chosen by Thua Thien Hue as a key sport for group 1 to invest in the 2021-2025 period along with wrestling, athletics, chess, karate, and swimming-diving.
A survey showed that the province has up to 30 Taekwondo clubs spreading widely in 9 districts, towns, city, and departments, attracting more than 1,000 practitioners registering for regular training. Thua Thien Hue is a destination for many Taekwondo tournaments: the National Student tournament in the Central region, the National Strong Clubs Cup, and the National Championship.
The achievements of Taekwondo fighters in Thua Thien Hue are also truly admirable. In 2016 - 2019, Thua Thien Hue Taekwondo contributed many athletes to domestic and international tournaments.
In 2016, the National Youth Taekwondo Championship was held in Can Tho, Thua Thien Hue Taekwondo team featured 15 athletes and 3 coaches and won 8 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, and 6 bronzes). With the gold in the women's 63kg weight class, athlete Do Thi Thanh Ngan entered the list of athletes competing in the World Young Taekwondo Championship.
Spectacular kicks delivered by a young Taekwondo athlete of Thua Thien Hue
Taekwondo Thua Thien Hue continued to leave many impressions. In 2017, it won 2 golds at the Southeast Asian Championship; 7 golds, 9 silvers, and 16 bronzes at the national youth tournaments, national cup tournament, and national championship; the 3rd place flag of the entire group in the women’s fighting event of the national cup tournament.
At the Southeast Asia Open Tournament 2018, Thua Thien Hue Taekwondo scooped 1 gold. Also this year, Taekwondo Thua Thien Hue earned 9 more golds, 6 silvers, and 12 bronzes. In 2019, it continued to scoop 4 golds, 8 silvers, and 14 bronzes at the national youth tournament, national cup tournament, and national championship…
Worthy of note is that recently, Thua Thien Hue featured 10 athletes, setting the target of winning medals at the National Taekwondo Championship 2021. At the end of the tournament, Taekwondo Thua Thien Hue scooped 5 bronzes.
Vis-à-vis strong centers, the achievements of Taekwondo Thua Thien Hue remain quite modest but also truly remarkable. In general, in 2020-2022, Taekwondo Thua Thien Hue added to its collection 2 golds, 3 silvers, and 10 bronzes at the national youth tournament, national cup tournament, and national championship.
Target for gold
Taekwondo is one of 15 sports that the Thua Thien Hue sports delegation registered to compete at the National Sports Games later this year. The Taekwondo team has 2 coaches and 9 athletes, including Ngo Duc Nhan, Le Van Hai, Ha Mai Bao Long, Tran Thi Phuong Thi, Tran Thi Ni, Nguyen Thi Trang, Ho Thi Linh Tam, Do Thi Thanh Ngan and Nguyen Thi Tra My.
The greatest hope for a medal is pinned on Do Thi Thanh Ngan with a bronze in the National Championship in 2021 and a gold in the National Cup in 2022. Thanh Ngan has a good body shape with a height of 1m74 and a diverse fighting style in conformity with the current fighting style (the revised rule). The general endurance is excellent, and the ability to hit life points is very sensitive, especially catching step 1.
At this sports games, Do Thi Thanh Ngan, who earned a gold in the National Championship 2021, will compete in the women's individual and team fighting.
Along with Do Thi Thanh Ngan (63kg or under 73kg class), Group 1(striving to reach the Taekwondo target) also includes Nguyen Thi Trang (53kg weight class), Ho Thi Linh Tam (57kg weight class), Nguyen Thi Tra My (68kg weight class) and the women's team.
Nguyen Thi Trang has a lot of experience with two national championships in the 46kg - 49kg weight class. Ho Thi Linh Tam has excellent training and competitive spirit, a strong fighting style and will to fight to the end, quite diverse techniques, and can attack with both legs and punches. Nguyen Thi Tra My has a good playing mentality, attacking quite perfectly at step 1.
Group 2 (making the breakthrough, pinning faith in male athletes) includes Ngo Duc Nhan (over 87kg weight class), Le Van Hai (87kg weight class), and Ha Mai Bao Long (54kg weight class). Meanwhile, Group 3 (competing for experience, learning from experience, and striving for achievements in the women's team event) includes 2 young athletes Tran Thi Ni and Tran Thi Phuong Thi.
Tran Thi Ni has a good body shape, long strides fit for long-range fighting, and a steady competitive mentality. Only at age 17 this year, Tran Thi Phuong Thi, a noteworthy new name, has good competition technique and can strike many blows, including hand ones. She is seen as a core Taekwondo athlete in the next one or two years.
According to Mr. Pham Ngoc Thanh, Head of Taekwondo Division of the province, the biggest problem of the Hue Taekwondo team engaging in the games is that from April to December this year, there is no tournament for athletes to compete, no objects to compete, only training together, so there is no feeling of competition, which is the biggest obstacle. The revised rule of competition requires athletes to have the enormous physical strength for good competition. There is a need to offer a solution for athletes to compete for experience in order to make technical and tactical adjustments.
Also according to Mr. Thanh, in good preparation for the National Sports Games, over the past time, the team's training board has focused on treatment and planned to aid recovery and provide training for athletes suffering injury and physical problems. Simultaneously, the team also engages in competition training at friendly tournaments for athletes to better themselves. Hopefully, the Thua Thien Hue Taekwondo team will reach the target of scooping 1 gold and 1 bronze at this games.
Story and photos: BA TRI