Vietnamese athletes take regional kurash championships' golds
VGP – Vietnamese fighters brought home 14 gold medals from the Southeast Asian Kurash Championships which closed on July 22 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Viet Nam’s fighters, coaches and staff pose for photos after they complete the first Southeast Asian Kurash Championship with 14 golds.
In the last day of competition five young athletes found their places on the top podiums.
The winners of the girls' 13-15 years old group were Pham Truc Linh in the girls' over-63kg class; Pham Minh Tuyet in the girls' U63kg and Ngo Thi Cam Tien in the girls' U57kg.
In the 10-11 years old, Pham Huynh Ngoc Tram took the U45kg title for girls while Huynh Minh Tri championed the over-35kg pool.
Earlier, nine senior martial artists secured their titles. They were Nguyen Hoang Thanh (men's 55kg), Le Cong Hoang Hai (men's 60kg), Bui Minh Quan (men's 100kg), Nguyen Thanh Phu Qui (women's 48kg), Do Thi Ha (women's 52kg), Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc (women's 57kg), Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhung (women's 63kg), Le Huynh Tuong Vi (women's 70kg) and Vo Thi Phuong Quynh (women's 78kg).
The team also bagged a bronze in the men's 90kg by Nguyen Xuan Phi.
"These are the strongest kurash fighters of Việt Nam currently. They have perform well and received remarkable achievement," said Nguyen Huu An of the Viet Nam team.
The tournament, organised for the first time in history, offered competitions for seniors, juniors, cadets and kids. Athletes from eight countries took part in the event.
It was a warm up for them ahead of the sixth Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games in November in Thailand.
Kurash is one of the most ancient folk styles of wrestling known to humankind. According to research, the game emerged on the territory of modern Uzbekistan at least 3500 years ago.
In Central Asia the technique, tradition, rules, and philosophy of Kurash wrestling were orally passed down from generation to generation, from fathers to children.
In kurash only standing techniques are allowed. The movements of kurash are clean and focus on one move to control the opponent.
In 2003 Kurash was recognised as an Asian sport and officially included in all continental games that took place on the Asian continent. This allowed Kurash competitions to be included in the program of the Summer Asian Games, the Asian Indoor Games, the Asian Beach Games, and the Asian Martial Arts Games./.
