Female boxer wins overwhelmingly, saving taekwondo from a sad day

Vietnam Taekwondo competed in three finals on the evening of June 14, but only won one gold medal thanks to Ha Thi Nguyen.

Ha Thi Nguyen took to the mat in the final match of the under-62kg weight class - the last final match of the day for Vietnamese taekwondo. She was the last hope for the team after two consecutive losses in the finals since early evening.

Ha Thi Nguyen was happy with the victory that brought home the only gold medal on June 14 for Vietnamese taekwondo. "Now I will aim to compete in the Olympics," she shared with VnExpress. Photo: Huu Quang.

Under great pressure, Ha Thi Nguyen still played bravely against her opponent Ja'afar Nurulain from the Philippines. She won by a record 22-0 points, forcing the match to end early in the second half due to the large score gap.

Phan Trung Duc opened the evening of hope for Vietnamese taekwondo, when he met Morrison Samuel Thomas of the Philippines in the under 69 kg weight class. Morrison's long legs gave him an advantage in striking at the same time as Trung Duc. In situations where he struck at the same time, Morrison always won the points. Thanks to that, the Filipino boxer won overwhelmingly after three rounds with a score of 19-12.

Pham Thi Thu Hien played the second final match of the team, meeting another Filipino boxer, Lopez Pauline, in the women's under 57 kg category. But after a tense first round, in the second round, Pauline unexpectedly threw a high kick, hitting Thu Hien's head, scoring three points to create a large gap.

The Vietnamese boxer's calmness and concentration helped her to tie the score at 10-10 in the third and final round. However, in the final minutes, Thu Hien showed signs of exhaustion and lost the match 12-20.

Thanks to Ha Thi Nguyen's victory, Vietnamese taekwondo has a total of five gold medals at this SEA Games, reaching the set target. In the previous two competition days, taekwondo won four gold medals in the performance and combat events.

Trung Duc (in blue) in the match against the Philippines. Taekwondo, for the past four years, has not been the gold mine of Vietnamese sports at the SEA Games. Photo: Huu Quang.

Taekwondo in the last two SEA Games only achieved its minimum goals and is no longer the gold mine of Vietnamese sports. Taekwondo is also no longer among the top five sports receiving key investment, aiming at the ASIAD and Olympic arenas.

In Singapore 2015, taekwondo also faced many difficulties when experienced martial artists left the arena, giving way to young martial artists. The achievement of winning five gold medals is therefore still considered a success for the martial art that brought Vietnam its first silver medal at the Olympics.

As of 8pm today, June 14, the Vietnamese delegation has 73 gold medals, continuing to rank third overall. The target set by the Vietnamese sports delegation at the 28th SEA Games was only 70 gold medals. Malaysia, behind, has only 59 gold medals.

According to VNE