Vietnam win first-ever world kumite gold medal

Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly on the top podium of the junior female kumite 53kg class of the World U21, Junior and Cadet Karate World Championship in Konya, Turkey. Photo courtesy of Vu Son Ha

Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly defeated Nejma Imitik of Marocco 2-0 in the final of the junior female kumite 53kg class on October 29.

It is the first gold for Vietnam at this tournament and the country's second karate gold in history.

"It is the first time that Vietnam have won world gold in the kumite (combat) event. It is the second for our karate team, following the first in kata (performance) by Nguyen Thi Hoang Ngan in 2008," said Vu Son Ha, head of the Karate Department of the Vietnam Sports Administration from Turkey.

Vietnam's previous best kumite result went to Nguyen Thi Ngoan, who won gold in the women's 61kg class of the 2017 Karate1-Premier League, one of the most important league events in the world of karate.

To advance to the final, Ly, the younger sister of Ngoan, beat Izaguirre Galdamez Estefany Rachel of El Salvador 8-0, Loeher Larie of Germany 9-0, and Kvasnicova Nina of Slovakia 4-1 in the group round.

She overcame Yahiaoui Kenza of Algeria 2-0 in the semi-final before beating Maroccan Imitik in the gold-medal match.

Vietnam also secured a silver medal from Nguyen Phuong Thao in the junior female kumite 48kg class. She lost 8-0 to Aly Ganna of Egypt.

The world championship featured almost 1,900 athletes from 105 countries and territories.

VNS