At the opening ceremony (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam beat the drum to kick off the second world championship of Vietnam’s traditional martial arts in Hanoi on August 23, drawing the participation of 279 athletes from 29 countries and territories worldwide.
The tournament was jointly held by the World Federation of Vietnamese Traditional Martial Arts (WFVV) and Hanoi city Department of Culture and Sports.
In his opening remarks, Director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports To Van Dong said that the Vietnamese traditional martial art, a precious heritage of the nation, have been increasingly popular in the world.
Besides creating favourable conditions for martial art sects to exchange experience, the tournament also serves as catalyst to encourage the development of Vietnamese martial arts in various regions as well as promote Vietnam’s culture and tradition, he noted.
The four-day event at the My Dinh Indoor Athletics Gymnasium in Hanoi will see virtuoso performances of both domestic and foreign athletes, especially those coming from countries with robust development of Vietnamese traditional martial arts like France, Russia, India, Germany, Italy, Laos, Algeria, among others.
The previous event was held in Ho Chi Minh City in 2016, seeing the attendance of 250 athletes from 27 countries and territories worldwide. The Vietnamese delegation won the first prize with 19 gold medals and two silver medals, followed by Russia with four gold, four silver and four bronze medals, and France with three gold, eight silver and three bronze medals.-VNA
VNA
