At the final round of the 17th national Vovinam championships of Algeria (Photo: VNA)
Algiers (VNA) – The final round of the 17th nationalVovinam championships of Algeria took place in Algiers on January 18.
The annual tournament, under the auspices of the Algerian Ministry of Youth andSports and the Algerian Vovinam Federation, aims to honour the spirit of themartial art and encourage the practice of Vovinam in the African country.
This year the championship drew the participation of nearly 300 artists from 66clubs across the nation. Thousands of trainees and fans came to cheer on theirfavourites at the final round.
After hours of thrilling competition, the Algerian Security and Sport Associationtook first place with nine gold and four silver medals. Wydad Riadhi desEucalyptus came second with three gold, six silver and one bronze medals, andAS Protection Civilile finished third with three gold and one bronze medals.
At the event, Minister-Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria Trinh TheHung commended the practice of Vovinam in the African nation, saying he iswilling to endorse activities organized by the Algerian Vovinam Federation in abid to promote development in the country.
Introduced toAlgeria in the 1970s, Vovinam has become popular and is now practised by over20,000 people across the country.
Vovinam (Viet VoDao) was founded by Nguyen Loc (1912-1960) in 1936 but developed in 1938 with aview to providing practitioners with an efficient method of self-defence aftera short period of study.
Vovinam ispracticed with and without weapons. It is based on the principle of combining ‘hard’and ‘soft’. It is not only about the training the body, but also the mind.
Vovinam ispractised in more than 60 countries and territories, with millions of learnersat thousands of Vovinam clubs./.
Traditional martial arts have been developing for centuries in Vietnam, with hundreds of styles nationwide, including Nam Hong Son, Tay Son Binh Dinh and Vovinam.
The Viet Vo Dao Vovinam (Vietnamese martial art) Championship – Ambassador Cup – was held in Shams El-Sheikh city, Egypt, on October 26 and 27, gathering mỏe than 80 athletes from Japan, Algeria, Iraq, Sudan and the host country.
The biggest Vietnamese martial art festival in history has kicked off in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with the participation of 365 trainers and athletes from 24 countries and territories.
Vietnam won the throne at the sixth World Vovinam Championships, which took place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on December 16-22, with 18 gold, nine silver, and one bronze medals.
The Vietnamese team will gather on June 26 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, where they will train until July 14 before departing for Indonesia for the ASEAN U23 Championship 2025, which runs from July 15 to 29. Vietnam will face Laos on July 19 and Cambodia on July 22 in the group stage.
The exhibition showcases more than 100 valuable documents and artifacts, divided into two main parts: “Journalist Nguyen Ai Quoc – Ho Chi Minh” and “President Ho Chi Minh – Founder and Mentor of Vietnamese Revolutionary Press.” This is an opportunity to recall the late leader’s journalism journey and affirm his exceptional role in founding and guiding the revolutionary press in Vietnam.
For the first time, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) has granted Vietnam hosting rights for the two championships, including the Asian women’s solo category, which debuts this year as an officially recognised event.
Eight teams will join the tournament, divided into two groups. Group A features Vietnam, the Philippines, Sichuan Club (China), and Australia, while Group B consists of Vietnam U21, Korabelka Club (Russia), Taiwan (China), and U21 Thailand.
Despite strong home support and high expectations, Vietnam were unable to overcome the defending champions, who secured their third consecutive win over Vietnam in a regional final, following previous victories in 2014 and 2023.
The event, part of Vietnam’s cultural diplomacy strategy through 2030, was jointly organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Venezuela and USM’s Faculty of International Relations. It attracted thousands of students from universities across Venezuela.
For the first time, Vietnamese audiences will have the opportunity to experience the ballet masterpiece "Don Quixote" in its original version by renowned choreographer Marius Petipa.
The contest carried deep meaning as it was the first time the life of Vietnamese women abroad had been highlighted as the central theme, said poet and writer Nguyen Quang Thieu, Chairman of the Vietnam Writers’ Association.
The event formed part of Vietnam’s ongoing campaign to seek UNESCO World Heritage status for the complex at the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled to take place in Paris in July.
Creative cultural festivals are fast emerging as a new catalyst for tourism development in Vietnam, as localities increasingly invest in these vibrant events on a more systematic and larger scale.
This marks the first time Vietnam has hosted a continental-level Muay event which will feature competitions across 28 weight categories in combat and eight performance categories.
Coming to the Vietnamese booth, visitors had the chance to take part in a bamboo dance, a workshop on painting woven bamboo or rattan, or quizzes about Vietnam.
These are impressive achievements, not only showing the efforts and prowess of Vietnamese paddlers but also serving as proof of the sports sector’s strategic and systematic investment.
The cultural event in Canberra not only fostered cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Australia but also contributed to promoting Vietnam’s image internationally
The U23 competition will run from June 16 to 22, followed by the U17 event from June 23 to 28, while athletes competing in the U23 category will undergo weight and skill checks ahead of the matches starting June 18, while similar checks for U17 athletes will take place before June 23.
Vietnam continues to sit just behind continental powerhouses Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, China, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
At the final round of the 17th national Vovinam championships of Algeria (Photo: VNA) 
