Martial artist Nguyen Van Tai - courage and belief

(Baonghean) - Winning the gold medal at the 27th SEA Games - the best achievement of Nghe An sports in the international and regional arena in 2015, wushu martial artist Nguyen Van Tai deserves to be the most notable sports figure of the province today.

Unexpected achievement

SEA Games 28 in Singapore, 7:30 p.m. (Vietnam time) June 8, 2015, Nguyen Van Tai entered the final match in the Sanshou category, under 65 kg. His opponent was Myanmar fighter Tun Kyaw Lin.

Nguyen Van Tai (black armor) threw a punch at the Myanmar fighter.

Right from the start, in his black armor, the 22-year-old from Nghe An continuously launched dangerous and highly accurate punches, forcing his opponent into a passive defense. Many times, Tun Kyaw Lin had to jump off the mat after strong attacks from the Vietnamese athlete.

In the end, Nguyen Van Tai won with a score of 2-0 to bring home the 26th gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation and the only gold medal for Nghe An sports at the 28th SEA Games. This is also the first gold medal for Nghe An sports in the last 3 SEA Games (since the gold medal of shuttlecock player Nguyen Thi Thanh at the 25th SEA Games in 2009).

It is worth mentioning that Tai's gold medal surprised many experts, because before participating in the tournament, Tai was not highly rated and even the Wushu team's coaching board determined that Tai's participation was only to learn and gain experience. However, the more Tai competed, the more he proved his will and courage, and then won the gold medal in his first SEA Games.

Nguyen Van Tai's joy of victory.

Starting a career from... athletics

Born in 1993 in Quynh Bang commune (Quynh Luu), Nguyen Van Tai came to wushu by chance, when he was a talented athlete in... athletics. Coach of Nghe An wushu team Nguyen Van Hue said: "In July 2007, during a trip to Quynh Luu to select athletes, I stopped by to watch the students in the gifted athletics class practice. Observing Tai on the running track of Cau Giat stadium, I saw that this 14-year-old boy had a solid body, agile movements and especially good charisma and qualities to become a martial arts athlete. I went to his house and persuaded his family to let him practice wushu at the provincial Sports Training and Coaching Center.

When I made the offer, both Tai and his family were very surprised, because Tai had never practiced martial arts before. Moreover, the family was poor, and Tai was the eldest brother, so his parents wanted him to stay home and help with the daily chores. After persistent persuasion, Tai's parents finally agreed to let their son enter the martial arts profession, even though they did not really believe in his ability to succeed.

Coming to Vinh City to practice wushu at the provincial Sports Training Center, Tai proved that coach Nguyen Van Hue has a discerning eye. In the sparring event, Tai clearly showed his superiority compared to the athletes in the team. Regardless of the weather, at the end of each training session, when the athletes in the team had rested, Tai often stayed behind to ask coach Hue to teach him more moves or practice more physical strength. In addition, Tai often went online to study clips of famous sparring athletes' matches. Thanks to that, Tai gradually perfected his techniques and competition tactics and became the number 1 sparring athlete of the Nghe An wushu team.

Thirst for international arena

In 2009, Tai participated in his first tournament, the National Wushu Championship Cup, and won a Silver Medal. Since 2010, Tai has been called up to the national youth wushu team. During this time, Tai has been trained under strict curriculums of experienced coaches and has competed with high-level athletes, especially the weight-loss exercises for the tournament are very difficult.

But with his strong will and determination, Tai overcame all difficulties to achieve impressive achievements in the following 3 years. That was the silver medal at the 2010 World Youth Championship, the gold medal at the National Youth Championship, the silver medal at the 6th National Sports Festival all in 2010; 2 gold medals at the National Championships and the National Championship Cup; silver medal at the 2012 Asian Championship and especially the silver medal at the World Championship in May 2013.

Since the end of 2013, Tai has been plagued with bad luck. First, at the 27th SEA Games held in Myanmar, the 65 kg weight class was not included in the competition, so Tai missed the opportunity to participate in his first SEA Games. In 2014, Tai suffered from repeated injuries and did not win any medals.

But after that period, Tai came back and rose strongly. At the 2015 National Wushu Championship held in April in Dak Lak, Tai won a gold medal in the under 70 kg weight class. That achievement helped Tai get a place in the 28th SEA Games, but he competed in the under 65 kg weight class. Another arduous weight loss training process, but Tai firmly overcame it and won glory for the country's sports.

As a national athlete, a level 1 athlete of Nghe An high-performance sports, but on the training ground as well as in daily life, Tai is very modest and simple. Since he started training at the Provincial Sports Training Center, he understood the hardship of his family in his hometown, every time he received a bonus, Tai saved it and sent it back to his parents.

Tai confided: “Practicing martial arts helps me become stronger, more resilient and more flexible in life. I found my passion, to live as a wushu athlete, to travel to many provinces, cities and countries, to meet people, to be honored, to be proud and honored when bringing home medals for the provincial and national wushu teams.”

In 2016, Tai's highest goal is to win a gold medal at the 2016 Asian Wushu Championship. This is a big arena for Vietnamese wushu athletes because it gathers many excellent martial artists from China, India, Korea... 4 years ago, Tai won a silver medal at this tournament.

Nguyen Van Tai (middle) won silver medal at the 2013 World Wushu Championship.

1.74 meters tall, dark skin, strong body, but Tai said: "At the 2012 Asian Championship, compared to athletes from other countries, I was only as tall as their ears. Also because of the physical weakness, our martial arts athletes often let medals slip away regrettably. But I believe that I will achieve good results at the tournament, as I did at the 2015 SEA Games, to once again contribute to raising the Vietnamese flag high in the international arena."

Minh Quan