Nguyen The Huong (in red) defeated Nehyeban Carlos Alvarez of the Philippines 3-0 in the men’s 67kg full contact. (Photo: VNA) NguyenThi Hang Nga started the defence of her title with a 3-0 victory over TeoVireen of Malaysia in the quarter-finals of the women’s 48kg full contactcategory.
AtSEA Games 30 in the Philippines in 2019, Nga beat Dacquel D.Renalyn of thehosts to take the title. This was also the only female kickboxing gold for Vietnamat the Games.
Nga'spath to martial arts was almost accidental - when she was in secondary school,she loved volleyball. However, because her school did not organise volleyballclasses, she had to choose a martial art. Since then, she has made a name forherself at domestic and international kickboxing events.
Nguyen Thi Hang Nga (in blue) started the defence of her title with a 3-0 victory over Teo Vireen of Malaysia. (Photo: VNA) However,in the quarter-finals of the men’s 57kg full contact category, SEA Gamesdefending champion Nguyen Xuan Phuong suffered a surprise loss to ArunnoSivapan of Thailand.
Asreigning SEA Games champion, Phuong was more fancied than his opponent beforethe quarter-finals began. However, the Thai boxer was an unknown force at thetournament and is a boxers led coached by the legendary "SaintMuay" of Thailand, Buakaw Banchamek.
Sivapansurprised Phuong with his aggression from the opening bell and took the firstround.
Phuongbounced back strongly in the second though. He regained the initiative andcontinuously attacked Sivapan. His style caused Sivapan to take some damage,leading to a count from the referee for the stunned Sivapan.
Phuong’svictory in the second round left the bout in the balance going into the third.Both boxers smelt blood but, unfortunately for the Vietnamese boxer, a kickfrom the Thai proved decisive and he lost on points.
Thekickboxing event at the Games 31 has nearly 90 boxers from eight countries;Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia andSingapore. Athletes compete in a knockout format to decide the winners.
Maleathletes take part in seven weight classes (51kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 63.5kg,67kg and 71kg) while there are five classes (48kg, 52kg, 56kg, 60kg and 65kg).Each athlete can only register for one category.
Kickboxingmatches are conducted according to the regulations of the Asian KickboxingFederation.
Thisyear's SEA Games is the second consecutive event that kickboxing has beenincluded in the competition programme. At SEA Games 30 in 2019, the Vietnameseteam won four gold medals, surpassing the host Philippines to lead the teamrankings.
Thekickboxing event will finish on May 13./.
VNA
