Leader of Hue College of Sports and Physical Education gave a welcome wreath to Ho Thi Ha back from the Asian Youth Karatedo Championship 2018
The story about Ho Thi Ha’s medal
Just over half a month apart, Ho Thi Ha brought Hue Karatedo two international medals, including the gold medal of the 7th Southeast Asian Karatedo Championship 2018 (held in Bac Ninh from 21 - 25 April) and the bronze medal of the Asian Youth Karatedo Championship 2018 (held in Japan from 10 to 14 May). Compared with the previous years, Hue Karatedo not only reached its international achievement target of the year but also “quenched the thirst of ” medals in the continent after 24 years of waiting.
Since the female athlete Pham Thi Huong Mai won silver medal at the Asian Youth Karatedo Championship 1994 hosted by Vietnam, Hue Karatedo has not scored any triumph in the continent, except the prizes in Southeast Asia. Even though Ho Thi Ha achieved the target of "hunting gold medals" in the regional tournament to get the tickets for the continental champion, many people took it as just a chance for this female athlete in the weight class of 59kg to test her competence and learn from experience.
Such an initial assessment given by many people is reasonable because the Asian Youth Karatedo Championship is a highly competitive arena, gathering nearly 370 athletes from 29 countries and territories.
The competitiveness of the tournament this year became fiercer , for the athletes attended in order to prepare for ASIAD and accumulate points for the Olympic 2020 in Japan.
Moreover, the contents of kumite at the age Ho Thi Ha compete are very fierce; athletes are often short of breath at the decisive time. Meanwhile, Ho Thi Ha first attended the tournament and was acquainted with karatedo for only 5 years. The opportunities to compete in the arena are rare.
However, thanks to her stubbornness and good psychology, Ho Thi Ha overcame the difficulties. Contrary to many athletes who often lose self-possession before the strong opponent, Ho Thi Ha entered the competition with confidence, making the opponent nervous and reckless. As soon as stepping onto the podium, Ho Thi Ha brimmed with joy and surprise because what the female athlete achieved was not really easy.
According to coach Le Van Loc, Ho Thi Ha's gold medal contributed more achievements to the medal table and helped Vietnam Karatedo gain the 8th position, thereby achieving the target set by the Vietnam Administration of Sports and Physical Training. In addition, that achievement is also an optimistic start in the international arena in the 2018 tournament season for the Vietnam Youth Karatedo in general and Hue Karatedo in particular.
Ho Ha (left), a "bright star" of Hue Karatedo
Affirming Hue’s position
For only two consecutive years, Hue Karatedo has achieved the two feats: the 2017 SEA Games gold medal Le Minh Thuan won after 14 years of waiting and the continental gold medal Ho Thi Ha was awarded after two decades of craving.
Hue was once the cradle of Karatedo. However, for lack of adequate investment, Hue Karatedo team lagged behind while other localities’ teams got great investment from economically potential units.
The evidence is that since 2005 Hue Karatedo has not had any athletes who won in the SEA Games or Asian Games; even the opportunity to participate in these tournaments has been very rare.
After the medals won by Le Minh Thuan and Ho Thi Ha, Karatedo Hue has found itself on the "map" of Asia Karatedo. Currently, Karatedo is the province's key sport. Apart from the above-mentioned two athletes with the feats, Hue Karatedo team has some promising names such as Le Trung Dung (winner of the Gold Medal of the National Games 2014), Bui Phuoc Thanh and so on.
At present, with many athletes reaching maturity and the good fortune Hue Karatedo has, it is not difficult to say the future of Hue Karatedo in the domestic and international arenas is very bright.
Le Van Loc, Head of the Karatedo Division affirmed that the division is expanding its network of movement clubs to recruit the talents for high achievement sports and try to build forces at all levels.
Besides the facilities, the foundation of the sport is the human resources and appropriate training methods. With the available resources and the policy of incentive from the provincial authorities to the athletes who have high achievements, it is our hope that Hue Karatedo will continue to write fairy tales, contribute to better defining the position of Hue’s dominant sport on the Karatedo “map” of the region and the world.
Story and photos: Huu Phuc