Gold couple My Hanh and My Trang of Hue wrestling

Highlights in wrestling

Thua Thien Hue Sports with the presence of two sisters, athletes Nguyen Thi My Hanh and Nguyen Thi My Trang, carried off 2 golds in the 70kg and 62kg weight categories, making a brilliant contribution to the success of the Vietnamese sports delegation, defending the championship at the 2024 Southeast Asian Wrestling Championship & Oceania Invitational, held in Thailand in late September. The Organizing Committee included the events for the U15 and U17 youth groups and the championship system in the entire tournament. The Vietnamese wrestling team won 29 golds, 7 silvers, and 6 bronzes.

This 2024 continues to be seen as the triumphant year for wrestler Nguyen Thi My Trang. After successfully defending the gold won at the SEA Games with Ms. Nguyen Thi My Hanh and winning the bronze in the women's 55kg freestyle wrestling at the 2023 Asian U23 Wrestling Championship,  female wrestler from Quang Dien Nguyen Thi My Trang and wrestler Nguyen Thi Xuan were registered by the Vietnamese wrestling team for the 2024 Olympic Qualifiers of the Asian region.

Not just single swallows, the power of Thua Thien Hue female wrestlers was strongly demonstrated as they brilliantly won the overall first place with a record of 4 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze at the 2024 National Beach Wrestling Club Championship, with familiar names such as Nguyen Thi My Hanh, gold in the 65kg weight category; Nguyen Thi My Trang, gold in 60kg; Nguyen Thi My Linh, gold in 55kg; Doan Thi Kim Oanh, gold in 50kg…

Power spreads

At the same time as the gold won by the two sisters My Hanh and My Trang at the 2024 Southeast Asian and Oceanian Championship at the Beach Ju-Jitsu World Championship held in Pattaya (Thailand), two young female athletes from Thua Thien Hue, Nguyen Thi Hoai Thuong, claimed 1 gold in the 44kg weight category and Nguyen Thu Huong 1 silver in the 70kg weight category.

Nguyen Thi Hoai Thuong is an emerging name of the Jujitsu sport, which is also very new to the people of Hue. Previously, in mid-May, at the 8th Asian Jujitsu Championship and Youth Championship in 2024, taking place from May 1 to 8, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hoai Thuong carried off 2 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze. In September 2021, Coach Chu Minh Tuan discovered the talent of this 10-year-old girl, and Hoai Thuong was sent to the Wrestling Division for training until late May 2022.

It is impossible not to mention one of the "Gold" girls of Thua Thien Hue sports recently, that is to say, female shuttlecock athlete Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh, who claimed the prestigious gold at the 2019 World Shuttlecock Championship held in Eaubonne City, a suburb of Paris, France.

Last August, she participated in the 2024 Asian and Asian Youth Shuttlecock Championship, held right in her homeland of Thua Thien Hue. Once again, Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh was named. This time, she continued to secure a gold in the women's team and a silver in the women's doubles.

Despite not having many outstanding achievements this year, female archer Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhi is also worth mentioning when she and female wrestler Nguyen Thi My Trang were the two Thua Thien Hue athletes selected for the qualifying round to "hunt tickets" to the Paris Olympics. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhi was voted as the Outstanding Citizen of Thua Thien Hue in 2020 - 2022.

Thanh Nhi's outstanding achievement was at the ASIA Cup - SHARJAH Asian Archery Championship held in Qatar in late December 2022, she excellently defeated the powerful opponent of the Korean archery team with a differential score of 6 - 2 to earn the individual gold.

"Gold" girls

Looking back over nearly half a century, Thua Thien Hue sports has proudly produced many generations of excellent athletes. The majority are female faces such as Luong Thi Bach Yen, Do Thi Bong, Tran Thi Yen Hoa (athletics); Nguyen Thi Thuan Hoa, Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Hoang Thi Nhu Y, Nguyen Thi Kim Phung (chess); Nguyen Thi Thao Quyen, Ha Kieu Trang, Ho Thi Hoai Tanh (Karate); Tran Thi Thanh Xuan (badminton); Nguyen Thi Trang, Ho Thi Linh Tam, Do Thi Thanh Ngan (Taekwondo); Nguyen Thi Thuy Diem, Nguyen Thi My Hanh, Nguyen Thi My Trang, Doan Thi Kim Oanh (wrestling); Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh, Le Thi Tuyet (shuttlecock); Ha Anh Thu, Duong Thi Quynh Nhu (Judo); Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhi (archery), etc.

Hopefully, with the transformation of the Intermediate School of Physical Education and Sports into the Sports Training and Competition Center, Thua Thien Hue Province will have more Gold girls, contributing to taking the sports of the ancient capital to a new and breakthrough level; worthy of the requirement to build Thua Thien Hue Province into a centrally-run city in the spirit of Resolution No. 54-NQ/TW of the Politburo.

Story and photo: Ba Tri