Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 17:24 GMT+7

Women's kata trio secures Vietnam’s first Asian Games 2026 gold

Vietnam secured its first gold medal at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 after Nguyen Ngoc Tram, Bui Ngoc Nhi and Hoang Thi Thu Uyen won the women’s team kata event.

On Tuesday afternoon, the women's kara trio won gold after delivering a strong performance in the women's team kata final in karate.

Unlike taolu events in wushu, where all athletes compete at the same time, kata events are organized in a knockout format, similar to the kumite combat events in karate.

Three years ago, Nguyen Ngoc Tram and teammates Nguyen Thi Phuong and Luu Thi Thu Uyen, coached by renowned former 'kata queen' Nguyen Hoang Ngan, won gold in the same event at the 19th Asian Games.

However, only four countries, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei, competed in the event in Hangzhou that year.

At this year’s Asian Games, the number of teams competing in the women’s team kata event has risen to eight, including strong sides such as Iran, Chinese Taipei and Macau.

Nguyen Ngoc Tram, 24, the youngest member of the previous team, is now the oldest of the new trio, alongside 20-year-old Hoang Thi Thu Uyen and 19-year-old Bui Ngoc Nhi.

In the quarterfinals, Vietnam easily passed Nepal with a unanimous 5-0 decision, receiving higher marks from all five judges.

At the semifinals, Vietnam faced Chinese Taipei, a team that has regularly won karate gold medals at the Asian Games.

Although Tram, Uyen and Nhi were not as dominant as they had been against Nepal, they still secured a victory.

The five judges scored Vietnam 8, 8.1, 8.1, 8.5 and 8.5, slightly higher than Chinese Taipei’s scores of 7.7, 7.8, 7.8, 8.2 and 8.1.

In the final, Vietnam faced Iran, which had also put in a strong performance to beat Thailand and the Philippines.

In the final, Iran received scores of 8.4, 7.9, 8.4, 7.6 and 8.3 from the five judges. Vietnam scored 8.8, 8.2, 8.8, 8.3 and 8.6.

Three years after their gold medal at the 19th Asian Games, Vietnam’s women’s team kata squad has once again claimed the title.

Despite significant changes in both the athletes and coaching staff, the Vietnamese women maintained their strong form in one of their strongest karate events.

Moments from Vietnam’s karate team as they competed for and defended their Asian Games title:

Before winning gold in the women's team kata event, karate had already earned Vietnam two bronze medals at the 20th Asian Games, with Bui Ngoc Nhi taking bronze in the women's individual kata and Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly in the women's 68kg kumite event.