Hanoi: Vietnamese fighter Truong Thi Kim Tuyen won a silver at the US Open taekwondo tournament on February 19 in Nevada.

The Vietnamese athlete finished second in the women’s U49kg after losing to No 1 seed Daniela Paola Souza of Mexico in the final.

On the way to the gold-medal match, Tuyen, who was seeded third, received a bye to advance to the second round where she beat Ashley Choi of the host country 2-0.

In the quarter finals, the former Asian champion beat Giulia Clara Sendra from Argentina 2-0 before winning 2-1 over Josipa Kafadar of Canada in the semi-finals.

The silver will push Tuyen up on her road to the Paris Olympics which will be her second time at the world largest global sporting festival.

The 27-year-old was confident ahead of the Olympic qualifier Asian zone which will be held on March 15-17 in China, last qualification tournament for Vietnamese athletes.

“My goal is an official spot at the Paris Games 2024. To me, every rival are in the same level and I have 50-50 chance to win,” s
he said.

“When I am on the competition map, I ask myself to fight my best, showing all skills and technique that I have been practising and owning for years. So that I will never regret when the game is over.”

Other Vietnamese competitors were ousted early in their categories.

Tran Thi Anh Tuyet was defeated 0-2 by Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi of Iran in the women’s 57kg class in the second round.

Bac Thi Khiem lost 0-2 to Claudia Gallardo of Chile in the quarter-finals of the women’s 67kg.

At the upcoming China event, to take their Olympic places, Tuyen and teammates will have to be in top two of their categories./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency