Female martial artist Kim Ngan has qualified for the 2018 Youth Olympics.
Female martial artist Ho Thi Kim Ngan excellently secured a ticket to the 2018 Youth Olympics after reaching the quarterfinals at the 2018 World Junior Taekwondo Championships held in Hammamet (Tunisia).
The 2018 World Junior Taekwondo Championships took place from April 6th to 13th in Hammamet, Tunisia, with 438 athletes from 111 countries competing in 10 different weight categories. This tournament served as a selection process for athletes to participate in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October.
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| Female martial artist Ho Thi Kim Ngan. |
According to the regulations, the top 8 athletes in each weight category will qualify for the 2018 Youth Olympics, which means they must reach the quarterfinals. However, if a weight category includes a home athlete, only 7 will qualify.
On the first day of competition, the Vietnamese taekwondo team had three athletes competing: Ho Thi Kim Ngan (under 49kg), Luong Ngoc Nhi (under 63kg women), and Le Minh Vuong (under 73kg men). As a result, Ngoc Nhi was eliminated by Kayir Ikra (Türkiye) with a score of 12-2, while Minh Vuong lost to Sofotasios Anargyros (Greece) with a score of 40-1.
Meanwhile, Kim Ngan achieved a series of impressive victories. The female fighter born in 2001 defeated Batista De Souza (Brazil) 12-1 in the opening match, won against Hughes Roxana (Guatemala) 13-3, and overcame Pirseyidova Sevda (Azerbaijan) 25-13 to advance to the quarterfinals.
In this weight category, the home team's fighter did not participate. Therefore, despite losing to Cao Zihan (China) 22-20 in the quarterfinals, Kim Ngan still secured the first ticket to the 2018 Youth Olympics for Vietnamese Taekwondo.
Ho Thi Kim Ngan is one of Vietnam's great hopes in Taekwondo. In 2017, Ngan won a gold medal at the Southeast Asian Youth Championships, a gold medal at the Korean Open Taekwondo Championships, and notably, a gold medal at the 2016 World Youth Championships. This tall girl, standing at 1.8 meters, is currently ranked 6th in the world, behind athletes from Cuba, Iran, Great Britain, Japan, and France.
Today (April 7th), the Vietnamese taekwondo team will have three fighters competing: Do Thi Thanh Ngan (women's under 55 kg), Le Thanh Nhan (men's under 55 kg), and Pham Dang Quang (men's under 63 kg).
