Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese karateka Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly secured a bronze medal in the women’s 68kg Kumite at the 2026 Asian Games (ASIAD 2026) after a dramatic bout against host athlete Kama Tsubasa on the afternoon of September 21.
The bronze-medal bout at the Toyohashi City Gymnasium in Aichi prefecture, Japan, saw the two fighters locked in a tense contest. Ly and Tsubasa were tied 4–4 at the end of regulation time. However, under the Senshu rule – the winner is the athlete who scores the first point in the bout, Ly was declared the winner.
The bronze medal affirms Ly’s strong finish in the women’s 68kg category. Tsubasa is a familiar opponent for the Vietnamese athlete as the two met in the final of the 2026 Asian Karate Championships in Indonesia in June. Ly won convincingly 5–1 to claim the gold medal, becoming the only Vietnamese athlete to finish on top at the tournament.
Ahead of ASIAD 2026, Ly was regarded as one of Vietnam’s leading karate gold-medal hopefuls. She began practicing karate at the age of 12 and rose to prominence after winning gold at the 2022 World Karate Youth Championships. At the 33rd SEA Games in 2025, she also helped Vietnam’s women’s Kumite team secure a gold medal.
At this year’s Asian Games, Vietnam’s karate team is competing in Kumite events with athletes Khuat Hai Nam, Chu An Duc and Ly. Before travelling to Japan, the coaching staff identified karate as one of the key sports with strong medal prospects for the Vietnamese delegation.
Ly’s bronze adds to Vietnam’s overall medal tally at the continental sporting event. Earlier, on the opening day of the karate competition on September 20, Bui Ngoc Nhi made a positive start by winning bronze in the women’s individual Kata event./.
ASIAD 2026: Karate brings second bronze to Vietnam
In the bronze-medal bout at Toyohashi Gymnasium in Toyohashi city, Japan's Aichi prefecture, Bui Ngoc Nhi delivered a confident performance to beat Singapore’s Leong Wai Yee Shannon 4–1.
