After their impressive performance in the US, what did Phan Hien and Thu Huong share?

Recently, Dancesport Grandmaster Phan Hien and his dance partner Dang Thu Huong - People's Public Security Sports athletes have excellently won the Bronze Medal at the World Show Dance Latin Championship organized by the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) in the US. This is the first medal of Vietnamese Dancesport at a world championship - affirming the position and important mark of People's Public Security Sports dancesport in particular and Vietnam in general on the sports map.

If in the past, dancesport was still quite new, today with brilliant milestones in the international arena, the audience has gradually recognized this sport as a national pride. Many opinions say that the victory of the couple Phan Hien - Thu Huong will pave the way, strongly inspiring the young generation of athletes to continue pursuing this artistic but also extremely harsh sport .

Phan Hien and Thu Huong's performance was inspired by the love story of a soldier and a nurse during wartime, and was elaborately staged from music , choreography to visual effects. The touching story, rich in national spirit, not only conquered international audiences but also affirmed the bravery and creativity of Vietnamese athletes.

Returning to Vietnam on September 16, Phan Hien was still elated with happiness when he received congratulations from his family, colleagues and the audience. He and his dance partner Thu Huong were moved because as soon as they landed at the airport, they were welcomed by a large number of students. Having competed in many international tournaments and won many gold medals, this achievement was the "most valuable" when this pair of athletes competed in an event that was not their forte. What's more special is that the pair Phan Hien - Thu Huong are the only representatives of the National Team participating in this event and both athletes are currently competing for the People's Public Security Sports Association.

Khanh Thi, as coach of Phan Hien - Thu Huong, said that after a long journey of conquering many tournaments, she set higher goals for her two students: entering the top 6 in Asia as well as challenging them to explore more difficult content, including Showdance - which is not the strength of both of them.

“Since last year, coach Valeri Ivanov and I have planned to train and register Phan Hien - Thu Huong to participate in the Latin Show Dance World Championship,” Khanh Thi said.

Khanh Thi (middle) and two dancesport athletes of the People's Police Sports Phan Hien-Thu Huong.

Over the past year, the pair of athletes have been training continuously with French coach Frederic Mosa. Each training session usually lasts 10 days or half a month in France. “The training schedule is quite intense. In addition to this goal, Hien and I still maintain a schedule to compete in regional tournaments to retain the Southeast Asian championship title. Therefore, there are times when we fall into a state of fatigue and pressure. With Showdance - a content that is not our forte, we have to learn a lot of new things, practice so well that we get injured. However, the Bronze Medal on September 13 in the US made everything disappear, leaving only the feeling of joy and pride at having successfully conquered a new peak,” Thu Huong added.

In dancesport, Showdance is a difficult competition with many strict rules: each dance has a duration of 3 minutes 30 seconds, including 3 minimum dances (Samba, Paso, Rumba) and each dance is at least 40 seconds. In the competition, the athlete pair must have basic technical movements. "To stage a competition that ensures technical and musical elements and creates emotions for the audience is a big challenge for us, from the person who comes up with the idea, choreographs, chooses the music to the 2 athletes", coach Khanh Thi shared.

Khanh Thi said that the entire coaching staff and the two athletes spent a lot of time choosing ideas for the competition. And the atmosphere of the people welcoming the two major events of the country recently - A50 and A80 - helped Khanh Thi form the idea of ​​a love story about a soldier and a female nurse during wartime.

She confided: “The image of the soldier and the nurse is very beautiful. Their love just blossomed and quickly separated when both put the ideal of fighting and protecting the Fatherland first. To have the performance as everyone saw, we calculated every second, changed a lot of choreography so that in 3 minutes and 30 seconds, everything had to be suitable, accurate and still convey the romance as well as the national spirit. Even the music selection was difficult, but luckily in the end we used and combined international music with the song 'Cho em gan anh them chut nua' by Huong Tram. In addition, to give the performance more effects and ways to convey to the audience, we added visual effects on the LED screen, thanks to which we achieved results beyond expectations.”

Choosing a performance with the idea of ​​a wartime love story was like a "gamble" for Phan Hien - Thu Huong as well as all members of the crew. According to Phan Hien, if they did not do it well and skillfully, it would create a negative reaction because both were competing in the US. However, in the qualifying round of Showdance Latin 2025, although they competed last (14th place), the audience quickly gave the two Vietnamese athletes endless applause.

In the final round, apart from the host US representative, the two Vietnamese athletes were the only pair to receive applause from the audience from the beginning to the end of the competition. The bronze medal achievement of Phan Hien - Thu Huong was a worthy result of the team's efforts over the past year.

Athletes Phan Hien-Thu Huong on the medal podium at the World Show Dance Latin Championship

It is known that in order to pursue the goal of winning a medal at the World Show Dance Latin Championship, Khanh Thi has spent her own money to "invest" in her husband Phan Hien and dance partner Thu Huong. She herself is always behind the scenes as a strong supporter, even not afraid to cook for the team during training sessions and foreign competitions so that Phan Hien - Thu Huong can focus on practicing.

“The recent achievement is a victory of the whole team, not just Hien or Huong individually. Coaches Khanh Thi, Valeri Ivanov, Frederic Mosa, dancers Xuan Thao - Dinh Loc, two costume designers Le Huu Ly, Rika Lam and students, family, friends... all contributed to my bronze medal in Showdance Latin”, Phan Hien said.

After the Latin Show Dance World Championship, the athlete couple Phan Hien - Thu Huong continues to set many other challenges to continue conquering new "peaks" in their career. With the achievements they have achieved, the athlete couple Phan Hien - Thu Huong promises to bring more achievements to Vietnamese danesport in general and People's Public Security Sports in particular.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/sau-man-trinh-dien-an-tuong-tai-my-phan-hien-va-thu-huong-chia-se-dieu-gi--i781633/