Hanoi (VNS/VNA) ✃- Judoka Nguyen ThiThanh Thuy made use of every minute to sharpen her skills and get to peakfitness in a recent training course in Mongolia.

The event was partof the final preparation for her and her teammates before taking part inthe 31st Southeast Asian Games, where Thuy will look to regain her titlein the women’s 52kg judo category. “My teammates and I arepreparing our best for the Games. We are improving our physique andpractising our strongest throws so that we are confident to face powerfulrivals in Hanoi this May,” she said. Thuy was born in 1993and grew up in the southern province of Tra Vinh, but she signed a contract tocompete for Ninh Binh province in the north in 2013. She is one ofthe most successful athletes in the province to date. “My parents registeredme at a judo club, hoping that sport would help improve my health. Wenever thought that it would be my first step to turn professional,” Thủy said. “I receive strongsupport from my family. My parents follow me to almost all of the tournamentswhile my older brother, a judo referee, also helps me a lot,” she said. Over18 years of practising judo, Thuy has been a Vietnamese representative inmany international competitions and has had remarkable results. But herfirst gold medal in the 2015 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, and competing at theTokyo Olympic Games are her most memorable. Despite being the ASEANreigning champion, Thuy was not expected to get the bestresult at her first SEA Games after all of her senior teammatesfailed. But she took her coaches from surprise to shock as she wentstraight to the final and took gold with few difficulties. It marked a turningpoint in Thuy’s career,and she has been a mainstay in international competitions ever since. She grabbed a bronze inthe Hungary Cup in 2016, placed fifth in the Asian championship in 2017 and wona title in the Asian Open tournament in 2018. A year later, she advanced to thelast 16 of the World Championship./.