Truong Thi Kim Tuyen is on the top podium of the women's 49kg discipline at the Asian Taekwondo Championship in Lebanon.(Photo: VNA) Truong Thi Kim Tuyen won gold in the women's 49kg category. The No 1seed defeated No 2 Mannopova Madinabonu of Uzbekistan 25-24 inthe final.
It was Tuyen's second Asian title in a row after her first in the 46kg class threeyear ago held in Vietnam. She is the first Vietnamese fighter to have wonthe continental competition. Madinabonu also took part in that event andgrabbed a bronze.
Tuyen received a bye in the first round. She beat Munisa Oimatovaof Tajikistan, No 9 seed, in the quarter-finals and No 5 Hung Yu-Tingof Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals. Hung and Tuyen will have a chance tofight again next month as both have qualified for the Olympics in Tokyo.
On June 16, Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet pocketed a silver in the women's 57kgclass. The unseeded player shocked No 4 Laetitia Aoun of the hosts 12-0 in thequarter-finals before beating No 1 Chen Yu-Chuang of Chinese Taipei 5-4 in thelast four. Chen previously knocked Tuyet out of an Olympic qualificationtournament last month.
Tuyet however fell 28-11 to No 3 Kim Yu-jin of the Republic of Koreain the final.
Ho Thi Kim Ngan, who was seeded No 4 in the women's 53kg pool, had anunsuccessful event as she was eliminated in the first roundby Ghazal Soltani of Iran.
The Asian championship, which was on June 14-18, lured nearly 340 athletes from28 countries and territories competing in 16 pools for both men and women.
Vietnamese players will fly to Kazakhstan to continue their training untilJuly 10 when Tuyen and her coach Kim Ki-tae take part in the Tokyo Games./.
VNA
