HCM City will host three continental taekwondo championships later this month.

Trương Thị Kim Tuyền (left) is Viet Nam’s hope at the coming Asian Taekwondo Championships in HCM City. — Photo zing.vn

The 23rd Asian Taekwondo Championships, the fifth Asian Taekwondo Poomsae Championships and the fourth Asian Para-Taekwondo Open Championships will be held at Phú Thọ Gymnasium from May 24-28.

According to Trương Ngọc Để, president of the Việt Nam Taekwonso Federation cum deputy head of the organisers, the tournaments will lure nearly 700 athletes from 50 countries and territories.

Many of them including the hosts consider the tourtournaments as chances to warm-up ahead of the 18th Asian Games which will be held in Indonesia in August.

Powerhouses such as South Korea, Iran, China and Thailand will bring their strongest athletes to Việt Nam this May.

Vietnamese hopes in the kumite (combat) events such as Hồ Thị Kim Ngân and Trương Thị Kim Tuyền are ones to watch. However, Để said it would be difficult to take the top podium because their rivals were the strongest in Asia and the world.

In the poomsae (performance) disciplines, coach Nguyễn Thanh Huy said his players were ready to triumph after their training in South Korea recently. The artists will do their best for not only the Asian championships but also the Asian Games where poomsae is set to be held for the first time in history. — VNS