Female martial artist 'picking gold' of Taekwondo Nghe An

Fate with martial arts

Born in 2006, the fifth child in a family of 6 children in Thanh Thuy commune (Thanh Chuong), Tran Thi Lan had a superior physique compared to her peers since childhood. Also because of her physique, when she was in 6th grade, while playing in the school yard, Lan caught the eye of a martial arts teacher in the district and was introduced to coach Dang Dinh Hung - Head of the Taekwondo Department of the Provincial Sports Training and Competition Center. With her height and long stride, Lan was quickly recruited into the center.

One advantage for Tran Thi Lan is that although her parents know that pursuing a sports career is difficult, they still enthusiastically support and encourage their daughter to practice hard. So, at the age of 12, after joining the Nghe An Taekwondo team, the girl from Thanh Chuong moved to Vinh city to live and study, and practice martial arts.

A martial arts athlete in a professional environment will have to make many sacrifices such as: Living far from home often, suffering in training and often facing the risk of injury... However, the passion for sports has helped Lan overcome the moments of weakness, homesickness, and sadness when having to live independently early. And the support and encouragement of her family has motivated Lan to make efforts in training and competing.

Tran Thi Lan said: “At the beginning of the training process, because of my weak physical strength, I often fell behind and was often reminded by the coach. But I did not give up because of that little difficulty. I tried harder every day and with that, the encouragement from my family and coaches helped me overcome my physical weakness.

Besides, during training and competition, I have been hit by many dangerous kicks that caused excruciating pain, sometimes I wanted to faint. However, when I came to martial arts, I determined that I had to have courage, had to practice hard so that next time I could neutralize my opponent's attacks and counterattack."

Outstanding achievements

After nearly a year of training, at the age of 13, Tran Thi Lan was able to compete in her first major tournament, the 2019 National Youth Taekwondo Championship held in Lao Cai province. For the first time competing outside of Nghe An province, Tran Thi Lan could not avoid being overwhelmed and only won a Bronze medal.

But after that tournament, Tran Thi Lan's technique and competitive spirit were increasingly improved. A year later, at the 2020 National Youth Taekwondo Championship held in Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Thi Lan won her first Gold medal in her career in the 59kg weight class. In 2021, in the context of many sports competitions being canceled due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, Tran Thi Lan still managed to win a Gold medal at the 2021 National Taekwondo Club Championship held in Thua Thien Hue province.

In 2022, Tran Thi Lan won a Gold medal at the National Youth Taekwondo Championship; at the National Taekwondo Club Championship. Also in this year, at the first international tournament she participated in, the 2022 Southeast Asian Taekwondo Championship held in Vietnam, Tran Thi Lan also excellently won a Gold medal.

In 2023, Tran Thi Lan continued to achieve outstanding results. Notably, at the 2023 Southeast Asian Taekwondo Championship held in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, this female athlete successfully defended her championship in the 68kg weight class.

After that, this female athlete continued to win the Gold medal at the National Youth Taekwondo Championship, the Korean Ambassador Cup National Club Taekwondo Championship and the ICTO International Club Taekwondo Championship; won the Silver medal in the team at the 2023 National Student Taekwondo Championship.

Most recently, at2023 National Taekwondo Championship for Outstanding Athletesheld in Dak Lak province from December 2 to 6, Tran Thi Lan also excellently won a gold medal in the over 63kg competition, helping Nghe An team win first place in the women's team.

As the person who directly trained Tran Thi Lan, coach and former national player Nguyen Thi Duong said: “Tran Thi Lan is a hard-working athlete, very hard-working in training and highly conscious in eating, living and working. In competition, Lan is very flexible, with her forte being kicks, split kicks, and side kicks to the face. Her competitive spirit is also a strong point of Lan, if she loses a point, she must use 200% of her strength to get the point back, and she will be very determined. However, this athlete's weakness is that her defense is not really solid, sometimes she is subjective and loses focus.”

Tran Thi Lan also admitted this and added: “In 2023, my biggest regret is that I could not compete with my experienced seniors to get a place at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia. Three months later, at the National Taekwondo Championship - one of the two most important national tournaments in Taekwondo, I could not maintain my form and did not win a medal, so I could not keep my position in the national team.”

However, the passion and desire to conquer achievements in major tournaments are still the goals that Tran Thi Lan sets for herself to strive for. “There is still a long way ahead while I am still young. Becoming a professional athlete is difficult and pursuing it to reach the final success is a thorny path. Therefore, I will practice and compete with 100% of my strength and ability, with the goal of achieving the highest achievements in the tournaments I participate in and being called back to the National Team to participate in regional, continental and world tournaments”, Tran Thi Lan confided.

In recent years, the Taekwondo training movement in localities has developed strongly, attracting a large number of young people to participate in training. Thanks to that, we have discovered, selected and trained many quality athletes, achieving impressive achievements in domestic and international tournaments, in which Tran Thi Lan is a prominent face. Although there are still weaknesses that need to be overcome, I believe that with her qualities and efforts, Tran Thi Lan will go further in the journey to conquer upcoming tournaments."

Coach Dang Dinh Hung - Head of Taekwondo Department of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center