Hanoi (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City will hostthree continental taekwondo championships later this month.
The 23rd Asian Taekwondo Championships,the fifth Asian Taekwondo Poomsae Championships and the fourth AsianPara-Taekwondo Open Championships will be held at Phu Tho Gymnasium from May24-28.
According to Truong Ngoc De, President of the VietnamTaekwondo Federation cum deputy head of the organisers, the tournaments willlure nearly 700 athletes from 50 countries and territories.
Many of them including the hosts consider the tournamentsas chances to warm-up ahead of the 18th Asian Games which will be held inIndonesia in August.
Powerhouses such as the Republic of Korea, Iran,China and Thailand will bring their strongest athletes to Vietnam this May.
Vietnamese hopes in the kumite (combat) eventssuch as Ho Thi Kim Ngan and Truong Thi Kim Tuyen are ones to watch. However, Desaid it would be difficult to take the top podium because their rivals were thestrongest in Asia and the world.
In the poomsae (performance) disciplines, coachNguyen Thanh Huy said his players were ready to triumph after their training inthe Republic of Korea recently. The artists will do their best for not only theAsian championships but also the Asian Games where poomsae is set to be heldfor the first time in history.-VNA