Vietnamese women's boxing has a chance to compete for tickets to the 2024 Olympics

This is the biggest debut of Vietnamese boxing in the journey to find a ticket to the 2024 Olympics. According to information from head coach Nguyen Nhu Cuong from Italy, the travel process was safe and smooth, the boxers were all in good health and confident and excited before the competition.

Coach Nguyen Nhu Cuong said: "The national women's boxing team was welcomed by the Organizing Committee and arranged accommodation as planned. However, it will take about 40-50 minutes to travel by car from the hotel to the competition venue due to heavy traffic. The training and preparation plan for the athletes has also been built in accordance with reality. The Organizing Committee has also announced the organization plan and competition schedule for each weight class. The team's only task is to focus on competing towards the goal of achieving the best results."

According to statistics from the Organizing Committee of the 2024 Olympic Qualifiers in Busto Arsizio, a total of 633 boxers (233 women, 400 men) from 113 countries and territories participated in this event. This is a very large-scale event and is part of the 2024 Olympic qualifying system "Road to Paris" organized by the International Boxing Association (IBA). There are 21 tickets to the Olympics awarded in 6 women's weight categories and 28 tickets awarded in 8 men's categories out of a total of 248 tickets/13 weight categories for boxing at the 2024 Olympics.

According to coach Nguyen Nhu Cuong, except for the continental qualifying rounds that have been held sporadically and some tickets have been awarded, the first qualifying round of the 2024 Olympics has gathered many excellent boxers from participating countries. He said: "The level of competition is very high because many countries aim to compete for Olympic tickets from this event when they have not won tickets in the continental qualifying round. Vietnamese boxing also hopes to have positive competition results with careful preparation for a long time beforehand and the whole team has been practicing almost non-stop since before the Lunar New Year."

Among the 6 participating boxers including Nguyen Thi Tam (50kg), Vo Thi Kim Anh (54kg), Nguyen Huyen Tran (57kg), Ha Thi Linh (60kg), Hoang Ngoc Mai (66kg) and Luu Diem Quynh (75kg), the one with the most experience and outstanding achievements is Nguyen Thi Tam. This 30-year-old boxer from Hanoi has won the Asian Championship twice (2017, 2022), won the bronze medal at the 18th ASIAD in 2018, won a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics and was the 2023 World Runner-up in the 50kg category.

However, in the first qualifying round of the 2024 Olympic boxing event on March 3, boxer Nguyen Thi Tam lost 0-5 to opponent Daina Moorehouse (Irish) in the 50kg category. In fact, Daina Moorehouse is a very strong boxer, having won the Irish boxing championship in late 2023 and reached the quarterfinals of the European boxing in June last year. Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Tam's performance was affected after the treatment for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee suffered at the 32nd SEA Games.

Nguyen Thi Tam's failure made many people regret because this female boxer was the hope of Vietnamese boxing. Four years ago, Nguyen Thi Tam and Nguyen Van Duong helped Vietnamese boxing win two official tickets to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan for the first time.

In addition to Nguyen Thi Tam, in this Olympic qualifying round, Vietnamese boxers also participated, including Vo Thi Kim Anh, Nguyen Huyen Tran, Ha Thi Linh, Hoang Ngoc Mai, and Luu Diem Quynh, competing in the weight categories of 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 66kg, and 75kg.

Coach Nguyen Nhu Cuong shared: "The opportunity to compete for Olympic tickets is divided equally among the participating boxers and the core is still efficiency in competition. To achieve a high ranking to get a ticket to the Olympics, boxers need to make great efforts and maximize their strengths, respond flexibly in each match and against each specific opponent. The national boxing team has prepared well before the match and is confident and determined, but there will certainly be many difficulties when facing strong opponents."