Taekwondo star Kim Ngan qualifies for Youth Olympics 2018
VOV.VN - Vietnamese taekwondo artist Ho Thi Kim Ngan has won a place in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Games after progressing to the quarter-finals at the World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Hammamet, Tunisia.
 |
The 2018 World Taekwondo Junior Championships is being held from April 6-13 with the participation of 438 athletes from 11 countries, competing across 10 different weight categories.
The tournament aims to select athletes to compete in the Buenos Aires 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games, which is set to transpire from October 6-18 in Argentina. As regulated, the top eight athletes of each weight category will secure progression to the Games, as such they must reach the quarter-finals of the Junior Championships. If there is an athlete from the host in each category, only 7 athletes will qualify for the Games.
On the first competition day, Ngoc Nhi lost to Turkish rival Kayir Ikra 2-12 while Minh Vuong was defeated by Greece rival Sofotasios Anargyros 1-40.
Meanwhile Kim Ngan came away with consecutive wins. She triumphed over her Brazilian rival Batista De Souza 12-1, before beating Hughes Roxana from Guatemala 13-3 and taking victory over Pirseyidova Sevda from Azerbaijan 25-13, to go through to the quarter-finals.
A martial artist from the host country did not compete in the event. Therefore, Ngan won a place in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Games although she lost to her Chinese rival Cao Zihan 20-22 in the quarter-finals,
Ho Thi Kim Ngan is a rising star of Vietnam’s taekwondo. She bagged gold medals in the ASEAN junior taekwondo championships 2017, the Chuncheo Republic of Korea Open International Taekwondo Championships 2017 and the WTF World Taekwondo Junior Championships 2016.
The 1.8 meter tall girl currently ranks sixth in the world rankings, behind athletes from Cuba, Iran, the UK, Japan, and France.
