Vietnamese karate dominates the 2023 Southeast Asian tournament
After three days of competition, Vietnamese boxers won 23 gold medals, 20 silver medals and 22 bronze medals. Thailand ranked second with eight gold medals, 10 silver medals and 18 bronze medals. Indonesia also won eight gold medals but ranked third with only five silver medals and 11 bronze medals. Meanwhile, Brunei ranked last with a bronze medal, being the only team participating in the tournament that did not win gold and silver medals.
The 10th Southeast Asian Karate Championship (SEAKF) will take place from March 17 to 19 in Manila. The tournament has eight participating teams including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Brunei. The tournament is divided into two categories: youth (youth, U21) and team.
On the first day of competition, Vietnam won a total of 17 gold medals in the youth events. After that, the team won 6 more gold medals in the team system.
Boxer Hoang Thi My Tam performed impressively when she won a double gold medal in kumite women's under 55kg. My Tam in turn defeated Thai boxer Chokprasertgul Sirigamolnate in the U21 category, and Filipino boxer Montalvo Jenelle in the team system.
In addition, Vietnam has a gold medal in the men's 84kg upper class of Tran Le Tan Dat, two gold medals in men's and women's kata. Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Ngoan lost the gold medal in the women's under 61kg category when she lost to Malaysian boxer Nor Azli Azwani. Ngoan is still in the process of regaining his form since winning the world gold medal in the 61kg class in 2017.
The achievement at SEAKF 2023 of Vietnam karate is in the calculation of the coaching staff, continuing to maintain the leading position in the region and running well for the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia. At SEA Games 31, Vietnam karate ranked first with seven gold medals, two silver medals, six bronze medals; three gold medals than the team behind Indonesia.
