“Gold” girls of Hue Wrestling
Medal target surpassed
At this festival, there are 22 provinces, cities, and sectors competing for 33 sets of medals. Hanoi's athletes remain in the top group in the country. The most obvious is that at the last SEA Games 31, Hanoi contributed 8 out of 18 Vietnamese wrestlers, and all 8 won golds.
Thua Thien Hue wrestling team joining in the 9th National Sports Festival 2022 has 16 athletes in all 3 events: men's freestyle wrestling, women's freestyle wrestling, and traditional wrestling. The target is to strive for 1-2 golds.
It is effortless to reach this target because Thua Thien Hue women's wrestling team already owns 2 SEA Games champions, the sisters Nguyen Thi My Hanh and Nguyen Thi My Trang. At this festival, the provincial sports delegation set the target of winning 20 - 25 medals of all types. Among them, there are 4-6 golds, ranked 35th to 40th out of 65 delegations from the provinces, cities, and sectors joining.
On-the-spot reward for the "gold" girls of Hue Wrestling Team
As a result, Hue wrestling continued to grab big wins, surpassing the set target, but it came as no surprise when it won up to 3 golds, 5 silvers, and 2 bronzes, scooping the first prize in women's freestyle wrestling. Three golds went to Nguyen Thi My Hanh (62kg class), Nguyen Thi My Trang (57kg class), and Doan Thi Kim Oanh (53kg class).
Five silvers went to Nguyen Van Quang (97kg class), Ho Dang Trong Khanh (125kg class), Le Thi Ai Hoa (50kg class), Nguyen Thi My Linh (55kg class), and Le Thi Quynh Nhu (68kg class). Two bronzes were awarded to Pham Phuoc Rin (86kg class) and Pham Van Vu (55kg class).
For the provincial honor
At SEA Games 31, Vietnamese wrestling won 17 golds. Thua Thien Hue wrestling "contributed" 2 medals by Nguyen Thi My Hanh and Nguyen Thi My Trang. All the wrestlers who won championships at SEA Games 31 competed in the events at this National Sports Festival.
Two golds by Nguyen Thi My Hanh and Nguyen Thi My Trang are obvious assertions. As the reigning SEA Games champion in the 62kg class, wrestler Nguyen Thi My Hanh easily beat Tran Thi Thu Huyen from Quang Tri, bringing the third gold for Thua Thien Hue in freestyle wrestling.
However, the wrestlers who won the championship at the SEA Games 31 made it difficult for the remaining athletes to compete for medals. Take the case of Le Thi Quynh Nhu, for example. It was too difficult for her to win "gold" when the opponent in the last match was Lai Dieu Thuong, a representative of the Army delegation, who was the champion of the SEA Games 31. Miss Lai Dieu Thuong was also the SEA Games champion, who gained experience in competition at the World Wrestling Championship 2022.
Worth mentioning is the gold by Doan Thi Kim Oanh, the National Grandmaster, the gold of the National Championship 2021. Doan Thi Kim Oanh was involved in wrestling since 2007.
In 2013, Kim Oanh scooped a gold at the pre-SEA Games Championship. In 2015, Kim Oanh was considered for the coaching contract, both coaching and joining in tournaments, especially championships, to contribute achievements to Hue sports.
Against male wrestling, female wrestling was born quite late (in 2008), but now it is a great hope for the provincial wrestling team. Le Thi Ai Hoa is one of five Thua Thien Hue wrestlers to win a silver. Only after 7 months of training in 2010 did this athlete immediately get a national silver.
Le Thi Ai Hoa once confided, "When on the mat, we have to compete for the honor of the home province, but when the competition ends, we are also normal girls."
It can be said that the spirit of competition for the honor of the home province contributed to the brilliant victory of Hue female wrestlers at the National Sports Festival, the biggest playground of the national sport.
Story and photos: Ba Tri