Notably, in the final of the women’s 85kg category Hoang Thi Mai Anh beat Fransiska Dewi, a strong opponent of the host country that is a world leader in Pencat Silat, winning the first gold medal for Vietnam.

The resounding victory inspired other Vietnamese martial artists who subsequently bagged five other golds in the women’s 75kg and 80kg, and in the men’s 70kg, 85kg and 95kg categories.

Moreover, Vietnamese fighters also clinched four silver and 11 bronze medals during the competition. Overall, they ranked third in the medal tally behind Indonesia and Malaysia.

The 19th iteration of the World Pencak Silat Championship witnessed the participation of 80 delegations globally. Vietnamese athletes competed in all 18 categories of tanding (combat) for both men and women, and four seni (performance) events.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the previous tournament held in Singapore in 2018, Vietnam secured six golds and finished second out of a total of 60 teams.

Source: VOV