The Vietnam MMA team ended the 33rd SEA Games impressively when Tran Ngoc Luong won the gold medal in the men's under 60kg category. He overcame opponent Alfiandi (Indonesia) with an overwhelming performance.
However, the path to the medal for this boxer was not smooth. According to Tran Ngoc Luong, the story of pressuring for weight before the competition became an unforgettable and humorous memory.
The fighter said that after finishing the qualifying round to prepare for the final, he was still overweight by 3.6kg. Luong brought a weight-bearing outfit, but forgot the jump rope, and the training place was cold, so all plans encountered many problems.
That was the biggest pressure of my life. We had to practice continuously from the previous night to the next morning, taking a steam, soaking in warm salt water, jumping rope and focusing on the only goal of cutting weights to step onto the ring", Ngoc Luong shared.
Fortunately, with the support of the assistant coach and teammates, he practiced persistently all night, both tired and lacking water and nutrition but still maintained an optimistic spirit.
At that time, I just thought of carrying the Vietnamese flag on my shoulder, the whole country was supporting, and there was only 1cm left to touch the gold medal, Ngoc Luong said.
After a night to the morning of the competition day, for the first time Ngoc Luong had to jump rope continuously for 1.5 hours before going to the ring.
Finally, the efforts to overcome weight pressure were worthy of being rewarded with the MMA gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games, while leaving the fighters with a memorable experience that was both stressful and humorous at the 33rd SEA Games.
