The determination to conquer international tournaments of the boxer from Nghia Dan
More than 2 weeks ago, at the 2024 Asian Kickboxing Championship held in Cambodia, athlete Phan Trong Quy won a Silver Medal - the best achievement that a Nghe An martial arts athlete has won since the beginning of 2024.
Passion for martial arts
Born in 2003, the youngest child in a farming family of four siblings in Nghia Khanh Commune (Nghia Dan), Phan Trong Quy was stunted and weak from a young age, so after finishing primary school, his parents sent him to study traditional martial arts in the commune. After a period of practicing this martial art, not only did he improve his physical condition, Quy gradually became fond of and then passionate about martial arts.
A year later, Phan Trong Quy was selected by Mr. Vo Hong Quang - Head of the class to join the amateur martial arts class organized by Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center in the district. In January 2018, at the end of the first semester of grade 9, Quy was one of the martial arts students that Mr. Quang brought to Vinh to take the entrance exam for the youth team of Traditional Martial Arts - Boxing - Kickboxing of Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center and was quickly accepted, officially becoming a high-performance martial arts athlete.
Training in a professional environment, Phan Trong Quy has made remarkable progress. More than 5 months after officially becoming a high-performance athlete, Quy participated in his first tournament, the 19th National Traditional Martial Arts Tournament for Youth and Teenagers in 2018, held in Soc Trang province. At this tournament, the boy from Nghia Dan won a Bronze Medal in the 51 kg weight class.
Since 2019, realizing that Phan Trong Quy has many qualities to develop in Kickboxing, the coaches at Nghe An Sports and Fitness Training and Competition Center have directed Quy to focus more on this sport. And the initial successes came when in 2 consecutive years (2019, 2020), Phan Trong Quy won the Silver Medal at the National Youth Kickboxing Championship.
However, from 2021 to 2023, Phan Trong Quy's development was slowed down due to incidents. First, in all of 2021 and the first half of 2022, sports tournaments could not be held due to the Covid-19 pandemic, causing this athlete to not be able to compete for a long time. Although at the end of 2022, at the 9th National Sports Festival, Phan Trong Quy won a Bronze Medal, but in 2023, injuries caused this athlete to once again miss out on medals in tournaments.
In 2024, Phan Trong Quy made a spectacular comeback in domestic tournaments. First, at the 2024 National Kickboxing Championship held in March in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, Quy won a Silver Medal. 3 months later, at the Central Highlands Kickboxing Championship, Quy won the highest position in the 60 kg weight class. In early September, at the 2024 National Kickboxing Championship held in Gia Lai province, Phan Trong Quy once again won the Gold Medal. Because the National Championship is the highest level domestic tournament in high-performance sports, this is also the best achievement that Phan Trong Quy has ever won in national tournaments.
Step into the international arena
After winning the Gold Medal at the 2024 National Kickboxing Championship, Phan Trong Quy was selected to join the Vietnam National Team to participate in the 2024 Asian Kickboxing Championship held in Cambodia, competing in the 60 kg weight class. Participating in an international tournament for the first time, the athlete from Nghe An had convincing victories over opponents from Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan to reach the finals.
Facing a very strong opponent, the Kazakh boxer - the number 1 candidate in the 60 kg category, Phan Trong Quy could not create a surprise. However, the Silver Medal at the 2024 Asian Kickboxing Championship was also an unexpected success for this athlete.
When I was selected to participate in the Asian Kickboxing Championship, I was very excited. When facing opponents, I always followed the tactics given by the coach. Unfortunately, the Kazakhstan athletes in the final were too strong, so I could not win the championship. However, this result is a motivation for me to continue training, aiming for good results in upcoming tournaments.
Kickboxing athlete Phan Trong Quy (Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center).
Coach Bui Duy Vinh– Head of the Traditional Martial Arts – Boxing – Kickboxing Department of Nghe An Sports and Physical Training and Competition Center commented on his student: “Phan Trong Quy has good qualities, is very diligent and hardworking, so he quickly grasped the techniques of Kickboxing. Although he has been married for 2 years, this athlete has never shown signs of neglecting his training. However, due to the difficulties in investing in high-performance sports in the province, Quy has not had the opportunity to increase training and compete with many opponents with different fighting styles to accumulate competition experience. As in the final match of the Asian Kickboxing Championship, in terms of factors such as body shape, fitness, strength, technique, agility, etc., Quy was not inferior to his opponent. However, what the other country's athletes showed was superiority, which was their bravery and battle experience."
Currently, Phan Trong Quy and his teammates are practicing hard, aiming for the National Kickboxing Club Cup taking place at the end of November with the goal of winning another Gold Medal in the 60 kg weight class.
“In 2025, in addition to the goal of winning Gold Medals in domestic tournaments, I will strive to be part of the National Kickboxing Team participating in the 33rd SEA Games and the tournament held in Thailand, winning Gold Medals and the Asian Kickboxing Championship. In both of these international tournaments, my goal is to win a Silver medal or higher,” Phan Trong Quy shared.
