Overcoming many difficulties, Khanh Hoa's muay Thai athletes have gradually showed progressions at the national tournaments.
Overcoming many difficulties, Khanh Hoa’s muay Thai athletes have gradually showed progressions at the national tournaments. The recent achievements of Khanh Hoa’s muay Thai team at the National Muay Thai Championship 2017 will contribute to build up the muay Thai movement in Khanh Hoa and help Khanh Hoa’s muay Thai to approach the increasingly strong development of this sport in Vietnam.
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Reportedly, the muay Thai athletes of Khanh Hoa achieved quite good results at the 2017 National Muay Thai Championship held in Ho Chi Minh City. Khanh Hoa team won one gold medal, two silver ones, and three bronze ones. Also at the championship, two athletes of Khanh Hoa were given master title; one athlete was recognized as national level-1 athlete. In the circumstance of having been facing more difficulties compared to other sports in the province, the untiring efforts and achievements of Khanh Hoa’S muay Thai athletes are worth being encouraged. At present, Phi Long Chanh Dojo has been the only place teaching muay Thai in Khanh Hoa.
This year’s National Muay Thai Championship was organized in Ho Chi Minh City from May 22 to 27, attracting more than 200 participants of 18 teams across the country. Vietnam’s present best muay Thai athletes Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat and Le Hoang Duc also took part in the tournament.
According to the professionals, there was a more intense competition at the 2017 tournament compared to the previous ones. Apart from the attendance of strong teams (Binh Duong, Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Ca Mau, Ho Chi Minh City), the championship was also joined by the debutants from An Giang, Tien Giang, Dak Nong, and Ben Tre. Khanh Hoa joined the tournament with seven athletes, competing in two age categories: 15-17 and from 18. Nguyen Trung Kien (born 1990) and Duong Dang Hieu (born 2000) showed excellent performances, overcoming strong opponents from Ho Chi Minh City and winning gold and silver respectively.
Ly Hoang Phong, Coach of Khanh Hoa’s muay Thai team, said, “The increase in number of teams at the 2017 championship reflected that muay Thai has been developing more strongly in Vietnam. Therefore, it is not easy for Khanh Hoa’s athletes to gain good results at this national level tournament.”
Nowadays, muay Thai has been included in many large-scale domestic and international tournaments (Vietnam’s national tournament for young athletes, national championship, SEA Games, Indoor Games) and will added to the upcoming National Sports and Physical Exercise Festival of Vietnam. Meanwhile, this sport has still been a new one in Khanh Hoa. It was at first practiced by more than ten martial arts practitioners of Phi Long Chanh Dojo and was incorporated into the competition system of high-achievement sports of Khanh Hoa in 2013. However, until now, there are only around 37 muay Thai practitioners (both professionals and amateurs) in Khanh Hoa.
As reported by Phong, muay Thai has had the same difficulties as other sports in Khanh Hoa in recruiting athletes and holding tournaments. Besides, a few young people have chosen to play muay Thai because it is a combat sport with practical fighting technique which requires strong physical strength and good endurance. Therefore, practitioners often get injured during practice.
It can be said that with a small number of practitioners, Khanh Hoa’s muay Thai has to strive more and more in order to promote the development of this sports as other localities in Vietnam.
An Nhien
Translated by H.N
