Quang Thi Thu Nghia- Vietnam's Pencak Silat gold miner

Nghia said Pencak Silat, a foreign sport, has now become Vietnam’s gold medal grabber at international sports competitions. It requires athletes to be strong, fast, and durable. Nghia said it’s destiny that brought her to Pencak Silat.

“I had known nothing about Pencak Silat before I was selected to the provincial sport team. In 2013, I began practicing this sport which requires a strong will. My coach did not press us to win. We practice patiently and comfortably,” she elaborated.

Nghia was recruited to Son La province’s Pencak Silat team when she was an 8th grader. She had to practice intensively and at the same time completed her study at school. Nghia suffered a lot of injuries and been hospitalized for several times. She even wanted to quit because of failures and injuries but her teachers, coaches, families, and friends encouraged her to continue practicing.

Nghia has participated in several domestic and regional competitions and grabbed 14 medals. At the Asian Pencak Silat Championship in India in 2018, Nghia won a gold medal at the 70kg category, bringing the Vietnamese team to the top place.

Tran Huy, Head of the Pencak Silat section of Son La province’s Center for Training and Competition, said, “Nghia has practiced patiently and intensively. She is determined to  conquer competition after competition. The world championship last December was the biggest competition that Nghia has participated. Her iron will and efforts have brought her a lot of achievements.”

In addition to daily practice at the Hanoi National Sport Training Center, Nghia is studying sports management at the Bac Ninh University of Sports.

Nghia said, “I want to be an outstanding athlete and also an outstanding coach to further popularize this sport, especially in mountainous provinces like Son La.”

For her achievements, Nghia was awarded a Certificate of Merit of the Vietnam Sports Administration.