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Vietnam hires Latvian European champion to coach karate team

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Latvia's former European champion Maksim Ivansikovs has signed a contract to coach Vietnam's national karate's kumite team, according to the Vietnam National Sports Administration (VNSA).

Under the agreement, the Latvian coach will guide the team till the end of the year for a monthly salary of 4,000 U.S. dollars, local Tuoi Tre News reported Tuesday, quoting Vu Son Ha, head of VNSA's karate department as saying.

Ivansikovs, 36, was introduced to Vietnam by the chairman of the Latvia Karate Federation. Previously, he had worked in China's Hong Kong and Malaysia.

The foreign coach will train Vietnamese artists to prepare for the next SEA Games, as well as to win a gold medal at the Asian Games, said the sport official.

This year, Vietnamese karate artists will participate in three events, including the ASEAN Championships next month in Laos, the Asian Championship in September in Japan, and the world youth tournament in November in Indonesia.

In another development, Vietnam's former world karate champion Nguyen Hoang Ngan will take charge of the national women's kata (performance) team.

Ngan, who is training in Japan, will return home next month and start her new job. The 31-year-old artist will also compete as a fighter. Enditem