2m15 tall athlete chooses vovinam

The "giant construction worker" Tran Ngoc Tu, 18 years old, 2.15 m tall, former pencak silat athlete Vinh Phuc will become a member of vovinam Ho Chi Minh City from today, April 14.

Outstanding height of Tran Ngoc Tu in the former Vinh Phuc pencak silat team.

Discovered by the coach while carrying mortar

Coach Nguyen Xuan Hung, pencak silat Vinh Phuc, recounted the day he found Tran Ngoc Tu: “I passed by a construction site and saw a tall young man carrying mortar, sweating profusely. I was curious, why not invite him to try pencak silat, being a construction worker is too hard. I went to talk to him, Tu nodded. I went to the cramped and moldy rented room where Tu lived, and gave Tu 900,000 VND to pay off his debts for food and rent.”

Tu returned to Vinh Phuc Sports Training Center and became the tallest athlete in Vietnam (previously, the tallest athlete in Vietnam was Nguyen Ngoc Thang, the main striker of the Long An men's volleyball team, with a height of 1.98 m). Coach Nguyen Xuan Hung made special clothes and sandals for him that fit his long and wide legs. Every meal, Tu ate 12 bowls of rice, ate breakfast equal to 4 other people's meals combined, and every night, Tu had to spread a mat on the floor because there was no bed that fit his body. Tu practiced hard, won a bronze medal at the 2015 National Pencak Silat Youth Championship and once hoped that this sport would be a chance to change his life.

However, because his body developed too quickly, Tran Ngoc Tu could not maintain the 110 kg weight class. Tu's most recent weight was 126 kg. Two weeks ago, Tu asked to leave the Vinh Phuc pencak silat team to return to work as a construction worker because he felt he could not play this sport well due to the lack of a suitable weight class.

Familiar with Vovinam

As soon as they heard about Tran Ngoc Tu, many volleyball, basketball, and taekwondo clubs tried to persuade Tu to join their teams. However, after considering, Tu accepted the invitation of Vovinam TP.HCM. “I thought a lot and decided not to be a construction worker anymore. I chose Vovinam TP.HCM, I thought this would be an environment that would help me learn, grow up, and become more successful,” Tu said.

Mr. Nguyen Binh Dinh, Deputy General Secretary of the Southeast Asian Vovinam Federation, Deputy General Secretary - Chief of Office of the Vietnam Vovinam Federation, said that he had sent a key combat athlete of Ho Chi Minh City Vovinam and the national team to support Tu during his initial period of confusion in getting acquainted with Vovinam.

“We appreciate Ngoc Tu’s qualities, height, and physical strength. In the short term, Tu may not be able to help us achieve any results, but in the long term, if Tu strives well and wins many medals domestically and internationally, this will be the door to change her life,” said Mr. Binh Dinh.

On the side of the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City sports industry, Mr. Mai Ba Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports, said that he is ready to welcome potential athletes. He said: “We hope Tu will try his best, sports are very harsh. Tu needs to cultivate and improve his cultural level to open up other directions for himself in the future, such as becoming a referee or a coach for example.”

According to Thanh Nien