The Chinese team achieved amazing results in the 19th Asian Games on October 8, 2023, with a total of 201 gold medals and 383 medals. Among them, the performance of the Chinese sanda team in the quarterfinals of the women's 52kg class was particularly eye-catching.
The match took place on September 26 and saw China's Li Yueyao and Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hsien battle it out. As a top player in the Chinese sanda world, Li Yueyao defeated Iran 2-0 at the 18th Asian Games in 2018 and won the gold medal in the women's 52kg wushu sanda competition, and was therefore known as the "first sister of sanda".
In June this year, she won the women's 52kg championship in the sanda event trials at this Asian Games and successfully qualified for the competition. Therefore, Li Yueyao is highly anticipated. At the start of the bout, both fighters took their stride and tested their opponents. Li Yueyao took the initiative and tried to attack her opponent with punches and legs.
Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hsien showed no signs of weakness and countered with a powerful whip leg. However, Li Yueyao skillfully used her opponent's counter-attacking power to take him down, showcasing excellent takedowns. In the next game, Li Yueyao continued to use whip legs to attack, and flexibly used continuous wrestling to grab points.
She also cleverly pretended to attack her opponent's abdomen, but instead landed a punch in the face that successfully knocked her opponent off. Despite a fierce punch and kick exchange between the two men and the Vietnamese's attempts to strike with his striking skills, Li Yueyao kept looking for a flaw in her rival and eventually managed to take her opponent down.
Entering the second round, Li Yueyao continued to attack her opponent with powerful punches and kicks. Although the Vietnamese didn't flinch, the two men engaged in a fierce fist and kick battle. Although Li Yueyao tried to use the takedown several times, her opponent was already on guard, and she was unsuccessful in taking her opponent down.
In the end, with the perfect combination of excellent technique and tactics, Li Yueyao successfully defeated the Vietnamese player and advanced to the semifinals. The "Sanda Sister" once again showed the world her extraordinary strength. In this match, Li Yueyao finally found an opportunity and took the advantage in the score by falling her opponent twice in a row.
And this is also the turning point for her to get rid of psychological pressure and execute tactics more accurately. In the process of constantly playing points, she also skillfully used the takedown moves, and her exquisite skills made her opponent constantly lose points and fall to the ground.
On the contrary, Ruan Thi Ngoc Xian was eager to use his fists and kicks to grab points at the beginning, but when his physical strength gradually lost and his game was unstable, he fell into Li Yueyao's tactical trap. She always wanted to take the lead in the score, but ignored Li Yueyao's counterattack ability. In the end, towards the end of the game, Li Yueyao steadily displayed her stunner skills and won the victory.
This match is not only a duel of skills, but also a contest of wisdom and willpower. For Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hsien, she has a certain advantage because of her tall stature and long arm span. The Vietnamese coaching staff also scored points through tactics such as distance and the use of punch and kick techniques.
However, our coaching staff felt that relying too much on punches and kicks would be flawed, so they developed a more sophisticated technical and tactical arrangement that required the fighters to look for opportunities in their wrestling. In the game, the Vietnamese player was certainly strong, but Li Yueyao always adhered to the tactics of the coaching staff and moved forward tenaciously.
While the second round of the contest didn't get off to a rough start, she didn't back down and stayed determined to move toward her goal. In the end, she broke through her opponent's defense through tenacious efforts and emerged victorious. On the other hand, Nguyen didn't seem to have thought about how to deal with the punches and kicks that didn't work. This may also be the reason for her defeat.