A medal for Vietnam in world taekwondo championships

Le Huynh Chau in the 2011 world championships (Photo: vnexpress.net)

In this tournament, Huynh Chau had an advantageous beginning. It was very easy for him to defeat Macau’s Chan Chon In with a 15-1 win. After that, he built a tightly 8-7 lead over Spain’s Frank Dmitry. However, the fight with Jordan’s Kanaan Kanaan was very stressful but Huynh Chau excellently overcame the match with a 5-4 win. His victory in this match and the right to the quarter-final were the result of one point in the extra round due to the “sudden death” rules. In the quarter-final, Huynh Chau beat Turkey’s Ulugnuyan Cem 8-7 and entered the semi-final.

So, it is certain that Le Huynh Chau can win the bronze medal. In the previous world championships, Vietnam only received four medals in the Taekwondo competition, that is, two bronze medals from Tran Quang Ha and Tran Thi My Linh in 1995, one bronze medal from Ho Thong Nhat Thong in 1999 and one from Dinh Thanh Long in 2005.

After five years waiting, Vietnam’s Taekwondo could experience the pleasure of gaining a medal in the world championships. Le Huynh Chau was born in 1987 and came from HCMC. In the international competitions, he has also won many medals, namely one silver medal in the 2003 Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships, one bronze medal in the 24th SEA Games and one silver medal in the 25th SEA Games.

Le Huynh Chau excellently passed nearly 80 athletes to reach the semi-final. In the semi-final, he met Great Britain’s Harvey Michael Paul, while Thailand’s Punthong Nacha met Korea’s Lee Dae Hoon. In the end, he stopped at the third place after a 11-5 lose and brought a bronze medal to Vietnam.

Together with Huynh Chau, there were two other Vietnamese athletes, that is, Dinh Quang Duc in the Male 87kg category and Ha Thi Nguyen in the Female 73kg category, participating in the competition. Dinh Quang Duc defeated Brazil’s Moraes Igor 2-1, but lost 3-5 to Chile’s Liebig Carlos, while Ha Thi Nguyen took a 10-6 lead over Canada’s Vokey Jasmine but lost 4-5 to Mexico’s Maria del Rosario Espinoza.