Vietnamese fencing wins two tickets to 2016 Olympics

Nguyen Thi Nhu Hoa and Vu Thanh An helped Vietnamese sports increase the total number of tickets to the Olympics in Rio (Brazil) next August to 11.

Vu Thanh An, the 11th athlete of Vietnamese sports to win a ticket to Brazil. Photo: Lam Thoa.

At the Asia-Pacific Olympic Fencing qualifying round in Wuxi (China) today, April 11, fencer Nguyen Thi Nhu Hoa caused a big surprise when she won the sabre championship, earning a ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In the same group with famous female fencers from the continent such as Stefitha Chalil (India), Mahsaossadat Pourrahmati (Iran), Megawati Megawati (Indonesia), Chialing Chang (Taipei), Cheryl Lim (Singapore), Nhu Hoa was not expected much. However, the 32-year-old female fencer surprised everyone by going straight to the final and winning big against Ulyana Balaganskaya (Kazakhstan) with a score of 15-5.

Head of the fencing department of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, Mr. Phung Le Quang, said that Nhu Hoa's ticket to Brazil was a surprise, beyond the expectations of the coaching staff. Vietnamese women's fencing now only hopes for Nguyen Thi Le Dung.

Fencing is one of the sports that has contributed many achievements to Vietnamese sports in recent important events. Photo: Lam Thoa.

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Head of the Hanoi Fencing Club, who is with the team in China, said that Nhu Hoa's victory inspired his teammates. As a result, Vu Thanh An, the current SEA Games champion, also won a ticket to Brazil.

Thanh An is in group 13 with six other fencers from Italy, Hungary, Israel, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong (China). In this group, he is the second seed, just behind Italian fencer E. Berre (31st in the world).

Thanh An went straight to the quarterfinals. He then defeated two opponents from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to win a spot at the 2016 Olympics.

According to VNE