Vietnam martial artist takes gold at world kurash competition

Martial artist Dao Le Thu Trang grabbed Vietnam’s only gold medal at the recent World Kurash Championships in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Trang overcame strong opponents from across the world to take top honours in the women's 48kg weight category, while her teammates Nguyen Thi Huong and Pham Minh Phu seized two bronze medals in the women's 63kg and men's 60kg divisions.

The competition, the ninth of its kind, brought together about 300 martial artists representing 35 countries and territories all over the world to compete for titles in different weight classes.

Kurash is most popular in Central Asia. The martial art bears some resemblances to Judo and wrestling, and has been developed in Vietnam since it was included in the 2009 Asian Indoor Games hosted by the country.

First national fitness and dance sport star festival held

The first-ever Vietnam Fitness and Dance Sport Star Festival took place at the Quan Ngua Sports Palace in Hanoi on December 24.

The festival drew the participation of more than 100 athletes from across the country who performed in a variety of disciplines, such as gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, aerobics, dance sport and bodybuilding.

The participants also involved top martial artists such as Phan Thi Ha Thanh, Pham Phuoc Hung (gymnastics) and Pham Van Mach (bodybuilding), along with dance sports duos: Chi Anh – Nha Khanh and Phan Hien – Khanh Thi.

The event, held by the Vietnam Gymnastic Federation, aims to praise the athletes and coaches for their achievements and contributions to the development of gymnastics and dance sport training movements.

The Vietnam Master – Vietravel Cup 2013, the last tennis competition of the year, is to take place in Ho Chi Minh City from December 23 to 30, with 24 of the country’s outstanding players competing.  

The men’s singles discipline will be contested by 16 top male players, while eight leading female contestants are set to battle it out for top honours in the women’s singles category.

The men’s champion walks away with VND25 million (US$1,175) in prize money while the women’s winner receives VND20 million (US$940).

The weeklong event also functions as a chance to rate and select the best players for the national teams in preparation for the Davis Cup (men) and Fed Cup (women) qualifications in Vietnam and Kazakhstan, respectively, next year.