Taekwondo

 HÀ NỘI — Trương Thị Kim Tuyền is the only Vietnamese athlete at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix which will be held in France from September 1-3.

It is the second event of the Grand Prix Series following the first one in Rome in May.

The Paris event promises to be one of the most exciting stops in this season’s Grand Prix Series, with ranking points for qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic up for grabs.

The national No 1 and former Asian champion arrived in the venue of Marcel Cerdan Sports Palace on August 30 and will have two days practising ahead of the women's 49kg battles.

Tuyền will be against 31 strong rivals including world top 10 such as No 2 Adriana Cerezo Iglesias of Spain; No 3 Merve Dinceltur of Turkey; Lena Stojkoviccro of Croatia and No 5 Daniela Paola Souzamex of Mexico.

Her arch-rival, world No 1 and Olympic champion Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand does not take part in.

The winner of each category will pocket US$5,000. Her/his runners-up will earn $3,000 and $1,000, respectively.

Athletes in the top 17 will receive from 6.35 to 60 points for their world ranking.

Tuyền currently has 125.65 points and ranks 26. She has just completed a training course in South Korea in preparation for the Paris event.

Last year, she was unfortunately eliminated from the first round.

The Grand Prix is also considered Tuyền's test ahead of the Asian Games in China next month. VNS