VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese karate team are still coming to grips with the fact that they will be going into the Asian Games (ASIAD) without Nguyen Hoang Ngan, who damaged her knee in Serbia last week.

Heavy hearted: Karate champ Nguyen Hoang Ngan will miss the Asian Games after suffering

a serious knee injury at the World Championship last week. (Photo: VNS)

"I suffered the injury one day before the final match when I was warming up for a practice session. Doctors said that if I stayed in the competition I would risk never being able to compete again," Ngan said.

Doctors in Viet Nam said Ngan will have to rest for nine months.

"I was crying when I saw my athletes sidelined in the world championship final and now the ASIAD," said the team's Japanese trainer Hasame. "It is the first time I have cried for an athlete."

Ngan has dominated the kata (performance) event internationally, and was tipped to easily clinch the ASIAD gold.

Ngan and her coach are now in Japan, where she will continue her studies and recuperate from her injury.

Ngan's absence from the games means Viet Nam will almost certainly fail to meet its target of winning six gold medals.

"Ngan is the world No 1. Her absence means we have dropped a gold already," said Le Quy Phuong, head of the Vietnamese delegation to Guangzhou.

"We thought a lot about participating in the world championship because it was so close to the ASIAD. We knew it would be risky but did not think for a minute we would suffer such a major loss," said official Vu Son Ha.

"It is a big blow not only for us but also for the Vietnamese delegation. But we will try our best to fulfil our medals' target," Ha said.

The pressure will now be on kumite (combat) artist Vu Nguyet Anh, who is competing in the women's 48kg category.

The kumite event will run from November 24-26.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News