The event features 14 weight categories - seven for men (under-60kg, 60kg, 66kg, 73kg, 81kg, 90kg and over 100kg) and seven for women (under-48kg, 48kg, 52kg, 57kg, 63kg, 70kg and 78kg).

Vietnam’s judo team, made up of nine women and one man, will compete in the men’s 66kg and the women’s 48kg, 52kg, 57kg, 63kg, 70kg and 78kg weight classes, with hopes mainly pinned on Van Ngoc Tu in the 48kg and Nguyen Thuy Quynh in the 52kg.

Van Ngoc Tu has made a name for herself in Vietnam’s judo history with a stunning collection of five judo gold medals at the 22nd, 25th and 27th SEA Games and three Kurash gold medals at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games, 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and the 2014 Asian Beach Games.

Tu is expected to make an impressive return to the international arena at the Asian Open 2015 after the 48kg event was unexpectedly excluded from the recent 28th SEA Games in Singapore.

The five-day tournament also offers a good opportunity for Vietnamese judo fighters to accumulate world rating points for tickets to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil.