Bui Yen Ly secured the only gold medal of muaythai for Vietnam at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) yesterday in Turkmenistan.

Bui Yen Ly of Vietnam (right) pockets a gold medal in the women’s 51kg muaythai event at the fifth AIMAG in Turkmenistan. 

The World Games’ reigning champion defeated Iranian Yavari Fatemech 30-27 in the women’s 51kg category at the Muaythai Kickboxing Arena on the last day of the event.

Ly got a bye in the first round. She then beat Tarapen Carissa from the Philippines in the quarter-finals and Gwa Weiying Cheryl of Singapore in the last-four round, all with a result of 30-27.

Coach Giáp Trung Thang said Ly was a smart and strong fighter who was always hungry for victory. She always has 100 per cent focus in every game and is flexible in switching her tactics to face different situations. She is good at attack and perfect at defence.

Ly is a Hanoi athlete. She first rose to prominence on winning a gold medal at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar.

The 22-year-old then won the Asian Beach Games in 2016 and the World Games in Poland some months ago.

In a later final, Vietnamese Truong Thi Hong Nga snatched a silver medal in the women’s 63.5kg category, losing to Wankrue Janejira of Thailand.

Earlier, Vit Nam’s greatest hope, Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat, the seven-time world champion, unexpectedly lost in the men’s 61kg quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Currently, Viet Nam have scored five golds and are placed seventh. Four other golds went to athletes in track-and-field, weightlifting and kurash.

Turkmenistan, Iran and Thailand have secured the top three positions, respectively. 

VNS