Kim Tuyen brought home the Olympic spot for Taekwondo Vietnam

Kim Tuyen attended the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Jordan, the women’s under 49kg content. She advanced to the quarterfinals, and defeated Aneila Aysha Afsar of Pakistan with a score of 22-8. In the semi-finals, the 24-year-old Vinh Long boxer defeated Fariza Aldangorova of Kazakhstan on December 26 to enter the final. Because each weight class chooses two boxers, Kim Tuyen won the Olympic place despite the results in the final.

Kim Tuyen was born in 1997 in Hoa Ninh, Long Ho, Vinh Long. She won the SEA Games gold medal in 2015, and the Asian champion in 2018. Before that, she won the silver medal in the world under 46kg. Kim Tuyen is ranked 12th in the world in the Olympic 49kg class.

Taekwondo Vietnam still has a chance to go to the 2020 Olympics, when boxer Tran Thi Anh Tuyet competes in the under 57kg event from the 1/8 round to meet Jennifer Lay of Timor Leste.

Taekwondo once brought home the first medal in Vietnam at the Olympics, thanks to Tran Hieu Ngan’s silver medal under 57kg. In the last time participating in the London Olympics 2012, Vietnam taekwondo had two fighters but both stopped in the 1/8 round.

Kim Tuyen is the ninth Vietnamese athlete to win a place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, after Luong Thi Thao, Dinh Thi Hao (rowing) Nguyen Huy Hoang (swimming), Le Thanh Tung, Dinh Phuong Thanh (TDDC), Nguyen Hoang Phi Vu, Do Thi Anh Nguyet (archery) and Nguyen Van Duong (boxing).

The Tokyo Olympics will take place from July 23, 2021 to August 8, 2021, with 33 subjects and 339 medal sets.

Xuan Binh