Thanh Liem causes Cambodian boxer to be hospitalized

Cambodia's Ammarin Phouthong fainted when leaving the competition mat and was taken straight to the hospital after losing to Nguyen Thanh Liem in the qualifying round of the men's 60kg vovinam SEA Games 32.

Phouthong has superior physique, but was quickly at a disadvantage when entering the match at Chroy Changvar Stadium on the morning of May 7. The Cambodian boxer was passive against Thanh Liem's ​​flexible movements and received a series of blows from the Vietnamese boxer.

Phouthong was taller, but moved less flexibly, so he lost strength quickly and could not land any blows on Thanh Liem. Photo: Lam Thoa

The referee briefly checked Phouthong before stopping the match, awarding Thanh Liem the win. Photo: Lam Thoa

Seeing that Phouthong was showing signs of fatigue and that it was dangerous to continue playing, the referee paused the match for a preliminary check, then decided to stop it completely and awarded the victory to Thanh Liem.

On the way out of the arena, Pouthong showed signs of difficulty breathing and gradually fainted. He later fainted when he arrived at the gathering place of the Cambodian vovinam team. Medical staff gave Phouthong first aid before carrying him to the ambulance to the hospital.

"Phouthong is a good boxer. But he had to lose weight from nearly 90kg to compete in the 60kg category. Having to work too hard and meeting a strong Vietnamese boxer today caused Pouthong to collapse," a member of the Cambodian vovinam team's coaching staff told VnExpress .

This is the second consecutive SEA Games where Phouthong has been defeated by Thanh Liem. In the 60kg final in Hanoi last year, he was also defeated quickly by a Vietnamese boxer.

Phouthong fainted and received first aid at the gathering place of the Cambodian vovinam team...

... before being taken to the emergency room. Photo: Lam Thoa

The men's 60kg category of vovinam at SEA Games 32 has only five competitors. With the victory over Phouthong this morning, Thanh Liem has entered the semi-finals, facing Ananthasak Souliyavong - a Laotian boxer who was drawn to be exempted from the qualifying round. The final of this event will take place at 3:00 p.m. the same day.

Thanh Liem studied Vovinam since he was 7 years old in Ho Chi Minh City - the strongest locality in the country in this martial art. After growing up through the District 4 and then city tournaments, the martial artist born in 1997 joined the Ho Chi Minh City Vovinam team in 2011 and has been constantly improving. Thanh Liem was the 2018 Asian champion, the 2017 world champion and has won many other major and minor titles.

At the 32nd SEA Games, Vietnam Vovinam competed in four men's combat events, four women's combat events and 22 performance events, aiming to win 7 gold medals, one more than at the Games at home last year. On the first day of competition, the team won a gold medal, thanks to the victory of female martial artist Le Thi Hien in the women's 55kg combat event.

Lam Thoa ( from Phnom Penh )

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/thanh-liem-khien-vo-si-campuchia-nhap-vien-4602216.html