Vietnamnet.vn
Podcast
 |
The open Asian kickboxing champion 2012 took place in a week, from December 25 to 31 in the city of Pune, India, with the participation of 12 countries, including Vietnam, China, India, Mongolia, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.
With the strongest kick-boxers recruited from the Muay and kickboxing clubs in the country, the Vietnamese team won three gold medals, two silver medals and five bronze medals. It ranked seventh, after Kazakhstan (9 gold medals), Kyrgyzstan (7 gold medals), Uzbekistan (6 gold medals), Iraq (5 gold medals), Iran (4 gold medals) and Jordan (4 gold medals).
Vietnam's three gold medals belonged to female kick-boxers Bui Yen Ly (under 45kg, Hanoi), Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung (under 54kg, An Giang) and Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai (under 51kg, An Giang).
The success of the female kick-boxers in Asian tournaments is easy to understand. The arena for Vietnamese female fighters is less challenging than their male colleagues because Muslim countries do not develop women’s martial arts.
Vietnamese male kick-boxers did not win gold medals but they entered two final games. Truong Quoc Hung (HCM City) - the champion of the world young Muay championship – was defeated by a Kazakhstan opponent, who was the champion at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi in 2009.
Nguyen Phi Long won a silver medal after being knocked-out by a Kyrgyzstan kick-boxer.
This is the second time Vietnamese kick-boxers competed in a continent tournament, after the 1st Asian Martial Arts Congress 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Vietnamese kick-boxers will attend the 4th Asia Indoor Martial Arts in Incheon, South Korea in 2013.
Kickboxing – the free martial art that is built from other martial arts such as Muay, Karate and boxing - is growing in the world. As a new sport in Vietnam, kickboxing is also favored by many people as exercises to improve health.
Compiled by S. Tung
.svg){kind=icon}
