Tran Thi Thanh Thuy of Vietnam (centre) receives her kurash gold medal at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. (Photo courtesy Huu Binh) Hanoi (VNA) - Bui Yen Ly secured the only gold medal of muaythai for Vietnam at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) on September 21 in Turkmenistan.
The World Games’ reigning champion defeated Iranian Yavari Fatemech 30-27 in the women’s 51kg category at the Muaythai Kickboxing Arena on the last day of the event.
Ly got a bye in the first round. She then beat Tarapen Carissa from the Philippines in the quarter-finals and Gwa Weiying Cheryl of Singapore in the last-four round, all with a result of 30-27.
Ly is a Hanoi athlete. She first rose to prominence on winning a gold medal at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar.
The 22-year-old then won the Asian Beach Games in 2016 and the World Games in Poland some months ago.
In a later final, Vietnamese Truong Thi Hong Nga snatched a silver medal in the women’s 63.5kg category, losing to Wankrue Janejira of Thailand.
Earlier, Vietnam’s greatest hope, Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat, the seven-time world champion, unexpectedly lost in the men’s 61kg quarter-finals on September 20.
Earlier, Tran Thi Thanh Thuy brought home the fourth gold medal at the AIMAG late on September 20.
The 20-year-old emerged victorious in the women’s over-87kg category after beating Anna Dmitriyewa of the host country 5-0 in the final match.
This is the second time that a kurash athlete of Vietnam won a gold at the AIMAG. Four years ago, Van Ngoc Tu grabbed the gold in the women’s 48kg in the Republic of Korea.
By late September 21, Vietnam had bagged five golds in muaythai, track-and-field, weightlifting and kurash.
Turkmenistan, Iran and Thailand secured the top three positions, respectively.-VNA
VNA
