Vietnamese boxer wins historic silver at Asiad

At Nishio Arena in Japan, Tam was unable to produce another upset against China’s Wu Yu, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion in the 50kg category.

After three rounds, the Vietnamese boxer lost 0-5, with all five judges awarding the bout to her opponent.

Tam had one judge on her side in the opening round, with that judge scoring it 10-9 in her favor, while the other four judges gave the round to Wu Yu.

In the second and third rounds, all five judges scored 10-9 for the Chinese boxer.

Speaking after the final, the Vietnamese boxer admitted that she was somewhat disappointed that she had not been able to perform at her usual level.

However, against a formidable opponent, she said she had given her best and was happy to secure a historic silver medal for Vietnamese boxing.

The result in Japan represents another significant step in the career of the 32-year-old boxer, eight years after she won bronze at the 2018 Asian Games.

By reaching her first Asian Games final, Tam moved Vietnamese boxing beyond its previous bronze-medal benchmark at the event.

Her achievement was also the product of a sustained effort to regain her form.

In an interview after the bout, she said a training camp lasting more than a month before the tournament had played an important role in helping her rediscover her best form and make a deep run at Asiad 20.

“I honestly didn’t think I could go this far at Asiad 20,” she shared.

Tam’s route to the gold-medal bout featured two convincing victories.

In the quarterfinals, she defeated South Korea’s Bak Chorong 5-0.

She produced another unanimous 5-0 victory in the semifinals on September 30 against Kazakhstan’s Alua Balkibekova, the reigning world champion.

Defeating Balkibekova, who had won both the 2025 IBA and World Boxing world titles, was a defining moment in Tam’s campaign for the silver medal.