Vietnam international Judo tournament opens in Ho Chi Minh City

The second International Judo Championship Vietnam 2016 – People's Police University Cup opened at Ton Duc Thang University Arena in Ho Chi Minh City on October 29, gathering 200 judo athletes from 14 countries and territories around the globe.

Winners at the tournament on October 29. (Credit: VNA)
Winners at the tournament on October 29. (Credit: VNA)

Hosts Vietnam has sent five teams to compete at the tournament, including the national Judo team, the national youth Judo team, the Ho Chi Minh City Judo team, the Ministry of Public Security’s Judo team, and the People's Police University judo team.

Athletes are competing in 16 fighting categories of both male and female divisions, along with the Nage No Kata and Juno Kata categories.

In addition, there is a competition for blind judo athletes competing in five weight classes of Para Judo.

The organisers will award 23 set of medals to winners in each category, as well as cups for the top three teams winning the most medals and trophies for outstanding athletes.

According to the organising board, leaders from the Southeast Asian Judo Federation are also supervising the event to appraise the tournament before recognising it as an official international Judo championship held in the region.

After the opening, four matches took place, seeing Lee Jungmin, Na Eun Jung, and Bae Hyo Min from the Republic of Korea, in addition to Nguyen Thi Thuong from hosts Vietnam secure gold medals in the weight categories of 81, 78, 100, and 63kg, respectively.

The event, taking place from October 27-30, is held by Ho Chi Minh City Judo Federation in collaboration with the People's Police and Ton Duc Thang Universities.