The martial artists of the Vietnamese taekwondo team who have been sent to the US to compete include Nguyen Hong Trong, Tran Ho Nhan Van, Nguyen Thi Loan and Nguyen Thi Mai.
The 2026 US Open will officially take place on March 8 and March 9.
The Vietnamese taekwondo team will depart on March 4 to catch up with the competition program.
This is the first international tournament of Vietnamese taekwondo sparring martial artists since SEA Games 33 to date. Closing SEA Games 33, the martial artists have started to gather with a renewed squad from 2026 including 22 members in many events for men's and women's sparring.
Among the 4 athletes sent to the US to compete, martial artist Nguyen Hong Trong is a face who won a gold medal at SEA Games 33.
At the Games played in Thailand, Hong Trong won the men's 54kg weight class championship. In addition, athlete Nguyen Thi Loan entered the final of the women's 53kg weight class but only won a silver medal.
The coaching staff assigned the task for Korean expert Kim Kil Tae to come to the US to direct the martial artists to compete. Currently, Mr. Kim Kil Tae is the only foreign expert of the Vietnamese taekwondo team. Earlier this year, Iranian expert Erfan Heydari finished working with Vietnamese taekwondo to move to Indonesia.
This year, the Vietnamese taekwondo team will participate in the 2026 Asian Championships in May in Mongolia and ASIAD 20 in September in Japan.
