In the qualifying round held on the morning of September 20, Lo Thi Phung convincingly defeated Torekhanova of Kazakhstan. The Vietnamese representative took the lead and won 2-0, thereby participating in the round for the 8 strongest fighters.
Entering the quarterfinals on the afternoon of September 20, Lo Thi Phung had a favorable start when she won comprehensively 30-27 in the 1st round. However, in the 2nd round, the Vietnamese martial artist let her Korean opponent balance the game. The two athletes had to enter extra time to determine the result.
In the decisive round, 2 referees awarded victory to the Korean martial artist, while 1 referee awarded Vietnam to win. In the end, Lo Thi Phung lost 1-2 and stopped in the quarterfinals. The Vietnamese coaching staff then proposed re-examination but the result was not changed.
Closing the competition day, coach Nguyen Thanh Ba shared: "Today Lo Thi Phung played well in the first match against the Kazakhstani boxer. Although the opponent was tall and tall, Phung won convincingly 2-0.
This afternoon against South Korea, Phung took the lead in the first half, but unfortunately he was a little weaker in the second half, letting the opponent regain the game. After two halves of draw, the two athletes entered the extra half very tightly. Two referees judged South Korea to win and 1 referee judged Vietnam to win. I asked to re-examine that match but could not change the result. It's also quite sad".
According to coach Nguyen Thanh Ba, Lo Thi Phung being drawn into the opponent's playing style also affected the result of the second half.
In the 2nd half, Phung was caught up in the opponent's playing style. I directed outside, but maybe he was drunk and rarely heard the coach's tactical instructions. If in the 2nd half we only had to fight back and forth, we would have had enough points to win, because the 1st half won very convincingly," Mr. Ba added.
In addition to Lo Thi Phung, in the traditional men's 77kg category, Quang Van Minh also could not advance after losing to Bahrain's opponent Baniev in the qualifying round.
Thus, both Vietnamese MMA fighters participating in these events have ended their journey at ASIAD 20.
