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| Minh Y (left) on the podium after winning the Silver Medal in the U16 men's 60kg beach wrestling event. Photo: Dinh Kien |
Promising potential
The 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships for Age Groups took place in Da Nang from May 23rd to June 9th. The tournament brought together nearly 900 athletes from 25 countries and territories, competing in four disciplines: men's freestyle wrestling, women's freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, and U17 beach wrestling (men and women).
Representing Hue as part of the Vietnamese national wrestling team were three athletes: Nguyen Thi My Linh, Ngo Minh Y, and Pham Le Viet Chi. Following the competition, Hue's wrestlers contributed two silver medals to Vietnam's tally. Nguyen Thi My Linh won silver in the U23 women's freestyle 53kg category, while Ngo Minh Y claimed silver in the U16 men's 60kg beach wrestling event.
To date, My Linh has become a familiar name among wrestling fans after helping Vietnam secure its first-ever U23 silver medal at the 2025 Asian U17 & U23 Wrestling Championships. She later made headlines together with her two sisters, My Hanh and My Trang, when all three siblings won gold medals in wrestling at the SEA Games.
Before this year's tournament, My Linh's goal was to upgrade the color of her medal. In the final, she took an early two-point lead through effective counterattacks. However, as the match progressed, fatigue took its toll, and she was unable to withstand the challenge posed by her Indian opponent, ultimately losing 2 - 6.
Meanwhile, Ngo Minh Y entered his final match in a relaxed and confident state despite competing in a continental-level tournament for the first time. Unfortunately, facing an opponent from wrestling powerhouse Mongolia, the 16-year-old was unable to complete a fairy-tale run and suffered a 0 - 3 defeat, settling for silver in the U16 men's beach wrestling event.
Failing to win gold was undoubtedly disappointing for My Linh and Minh Y. However, from another perspective, the result serves as a powerful source of motivation as they continue their journeys forward.
“My Linh has already established a reputation in Vietnamese and regional wrestling. However, at just 23 years old and with her projected potential, she still has considerable room for growth. Minh Y, at 16, may offer even greater promise. Before this tournament, he was not one of the standout names on Hue's team, but what he demonstrated here revealed tremendous potential,” said Mr. Dinh Van Kien, head coach of Hue's wrestling team.
A “gold mine” waiting to be tapped
Hue's wrestling team currently maintains a force of around 36 athletes and is widely regarded as one of Vietnam's strongest wrestling localities, particularly in freestyle wrestling and women's freestyle wrestling. For many years, Hue's female wrestlers have consistently ranked among the nation's elite and have regularly supplied athletes to the national team for international competitions.
Traditional Vietnamese wrestling is also one of Hue's sporting strengths. Numerous athletes have achieved success at national tournaments, including Pham Van Co and Nguyen Doan Dung, whose gold medals at the 2022 National Sports Games stand as notable examples.
Back to the 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships for Age Groups, the event featured all of Asia's wrestling powerhouses. In women's freestyle wrestling, leading nations included Japan, India, Mongolia, South Korea, and North Korea. In beach wrestling, major contenders included Iran, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. This meant that both My Linh and Minh Y had to overcome a series of formidable opponents to reach their respective finals.
In beach wrestling, besides Minh Y's silver medal, several other Hue wrestlers have recently excelled in the discipline. Most recently, Nguyen Thi My Hanh and Doan Thi Kim Oanh won two bronze medals at the 2026 World Beach Wrestling Championships, held in Da Nang on May 9th - 10th. They also earned one silver and one bronze medal in beach wrestling at the 2026 Asian Beach Games, held in Sanya, China, from April 21st to 30th. Before that, numerous Hue wrestlers had repeatedly stood atop the podium at national beach wrestling championships.
One noteworthy aspect is that Hue's wrestling team does not maintain separate training programs for beach wrestling and traditional wrestling. In other words, due to limited staff, the team cannot divide athletes into specialized groups and therefore focuses primarily on freestyle wrestling. Even so, many Hue wrestlers have gone on to achieve impressive results when competing in other disciplines for the first time.
“Traditional wrestling and beach wrestling share similarities in terms of rules and techniques. More importantly, our athletes possess the ability and adaptability to transition into new disciplines, even without receiving specialized long-term training,” Dinh Van Kien explained.
Currently, nearly half of Hue's wrestling squad consists of young athletes. In addition to the names already mentioned, wrestlers such as Xuan Nhi and Yen Nhi are, according to Coach Kien, fully capable of “filling the gaps” when senior athletes like My Hanh, My Trang, Kim Oanh, and Pham Van Co eventually retire.
Viewed from the perspective of the two silver medals won at the 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships for Age Groups, Hue may not yet have reached the coveted “gold” it was aiming for. Yet, behind those results lies a story of continuity, effective athlete development, and emerging young talents - along with the growing promise of a “gold mine” known as beach wrestling.