Vietnamese boxer raises hands in celebration after narrowly missing out on a world gold medal.
On May 20th in Mexico, Muay Thai fighter Bui Yen Ly was unable to win the gold medal at the World Amateur Championships despite her best efforts.
The women's 51kg final saw a showdown between Bui Yen Ly of Vietnam and Josefin Lindgren Knutsson of Sweden. Both delivered a closely contested match. Yen Ly, in particular, dominated her opponent at times, landing numerous successful blows.
The Vietnamese fighter herself thought she would win with her performance. As the referee prepared to announce the result, Yen Ly raised her hand to celebrate, but ultimately the victory went to fighter Josefin Knutsson. Yen Ly was declared the loser with a close score of 28-29.
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| Yen Ly (in the red shirt) raises her hand in premature celebration.Photo: FBNV. |
According to Yen Ly, this result did not accurately reflect the match's dynamics. Sharing on her personal Facebook page, Yen Ly wrote: "Winning or losing depends on the referee; if the referee declares a loss as a win, we have to accept it. I just put on my gloves and fought with everything I had, exhausting myself for nine minutes on the mat, feeling like I couldn't even lift my hands to take them off. When you do something with the utmost effort and the result isn't satisfactory, there's nothing to be ashamed of."
Bui Yen Ly is known as the strongest Muay Thai fighter in Vietnam currently. She boasts an impressive record, including two semi-professional Muay Thai championships, three world championships, a gold medal at the 27th SEA Games, and many other achievements in international competitions.
Besides Yen Ly, Vietnamese Muay Thai also won a silver medal thanks to Nguyen Doan Long. In the 57kg final, Doan Long also suffered a 28-29 defeat against Mark Valovich. Thus, Vietnamese Muay Thai did not meet its target of 2 gold medals. In contrast, in 2017, Vietnamese fighters brought home 2 gold medals at the tournament held in Belarus.
