Vietnam win two golds at muay thai youth world event

The Vietnam muay team won two gold, two silver and six bronze medals at the 2016 IFMA Muay thai Youth World Championship which recently wrapped up in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 54kg weight class final age 16-17 between Vietnam’s Quach Thi Hoai (red) and Turkey's Merve Saglam. (Credit: VOV)
The 54kg weight class final age 16-17 between Vietnam’s Quach Thi Hoai (red) and Turkey's Merve Saglam. (Credit: VOV)

Two young athletes won gold for Vietnamese team at the tournament: Quach Thi Hoai in females’ 54kg event of Junior 16-17 age category and Nguyen Thi Ly in females’ 48 kg event of Junior 14-15 age category.

In the first final match of the Vietnamese muay team, Hoai met Turkey's Merve Saglam. Thanks to a long stride with reasonable tactic, the female athlete from Thanh Hoa beat her opponent after three rounds.

Shortly thereafter, Hoai’s teammate Tran Thi Lua lost to Savannah Foden from Canada in the 57kg event and accepted the silver medal.

Meanwhile in the Junior 14-15’s 48 kg final, female athlete Nguyen Thi Ly defeated her opponent from Russia Olga Artiukh to bring about another gold medal for Vietnam.

Earlier in the 42 kg event final, Nguyen Thi Anh was unable to beat host player Waritsana Tongma.

Vietnam wrapped up six-day competition at the event with a total of 10 medals, including two goals.

It is considered a positive achievement for the team, as Vietnam’s athletes reached four finals in this tournament despite fierce competition from others. In several weight classes, the number of participating athletes might rise to approximately 100 athletes per team, while Vietnam sent quite small number of players with not much experience to the event.

The 2016 IFMA Muaythai Youth World Championship, held by the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA), attracted over 1,000 athletes from 62 countries around the world to compete in respective weight categories under four Junior divisions, including Junior 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, and 16-17.