Italy and Germany secured first place twice in the performance category on Monday, increasing Europe’s gold medal count at the seventh WVVF World Vovinam Championships 2023, taking place in Ho Chi Minh City, to four.

Short for 'Vo Viet Nam,' literally 'Vietnamese Martial Arts,' vovinam is Vietnam’s acrobatic martial art, which achieved a significant milestone in 2008 with the establishment of the World Vovinam Federation (WVVF).

Previously, Russia and Belarus had won two gold medals in combat events on Friday, the first day of the competition, which is being held by the WVVF from November 22 to 30 at Phu Tho Indoor Sports Hall in the city’s District 11, attracting more than 650 athletes from 35 countries and territories.

The two victories on Monday added great pride, marking European athletes’ first gold medals in performance events.

In the female ying-yang sword form team category, Italy’s Mazza Francesca, Di Nardi Iris Ida Carolina, Minniti Chiara, and Ibba Francesca came in first with 270 points, highlighting a grand achievement, considering they beat host Vietnam – the homeland of vovinam – by three points.

The four Italian athletes celebrated their victory by proudly singing their national anthem on the podium during the awards ceremony.

In the female duel knife form category, Nguyen Viet Trang, a German athlete of Vietnamese origin, secured first place with 262 points, narrowly surpassing Cisse Zeynab Findonan from Ivory Coast by just one point.

In the same category, another athlete of Vietnamese descent representing France, Truong Thuy Tien, came in third place with 256 points.

Before Monday, a total of 11 gold medals for performance events had been awarded, five of which went to Vietnam, three to Algeria, two to Cambodia, and one to Thailand.

Vietnam wrapped up the third day of competition by winning four gold medals.

In the male category of the ten-technique eight-principle form, Vuong Minh Khang of Vietnam claimed first place, surpassing Robin Sudorruslan of France by three points.

In the male category of the sun-moon broadsword form, Huynh Khac Nguyen secured a commanding first place with 275 points, maintaining a substantial ten-point lead over runner-up Maxime Chung, representing France.

Medallo Jovan from the Philippines and Tran Dinh Du from Germany tied in the same category with 262 points. 

In the rematch, Jovan earned 265 points and secured victory over Du by two points.

In the combat events, Le Ngoc Vinh Truong of Vietnam emerged victorious in the male 60kg category by a knock-out against Cantores Emmanuel of the Philippines, while Bui Xuan Nhat secured victory against Kao Vichetrach of Cambodia in the male 68kg final.

Competitions on Tuesday consisted of five performance and four combat events.

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