Precious moments in Vietnamese sport at 16th ASIAD
Although winning only 1 gold medal after two weeks of competition at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD), the Vietnamese sport delegation has gained amazing achievements in some events including athletics and wrestling.
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The Vietnamese sports team attended the 16th ASIAD with more than 260 athletes competing for 26 out of 42 events. It pocketed 1gold, 17 silvers and 15 bronzes to place 24th in the medal tally. |
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Men’s football was the first ASIAD event in which the Vietnamese team took part. They made a wonderful start, defeating Olympic Bahrain 3-1, but lost two successive matches to Olympic Turkmenistan (2-6) and Olympic Iran (0-1) in the group stage. The journey ended after being defeated Olympic Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) 2-0. |
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Wushu martial artists brought in the first medal for the Vietnamese team. They also made a great contribution to the medal tally grabbing another 3 silvers and 4 bronzes. |
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The shooting team, however, wasted its chance for gold in its competition. |
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The most outstanding Vietnamese athlete in the track and field events was runner Truong Thanh Hang who came second in both the 800m and 1,500m races. |
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Her colleague, sprinter Vu Thi Huong won the first silver medals for Vietnam in the 100m and 200m races. |
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Teakwondo martial artist Hoai Thu could not conceal her disappointment when she lost to her Thailand rival, Pongsri 3-1, in the final match of the 53kg division. Leading 3-1 for most of the match, Thu was unable to defend her victory and lost 3 points in the last 47 seconds. |
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| 18 year-old karate artist Bich Phuong faced defending champion from Japan, Kobayashi Miki, in the final match of the women’s under 55kg. Despite being behind for most of the match, Phuong showed her confidence and determination to equalise the score and finally beat her opponent 4-3 to take home the gold. |
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The press loved the golden girl of Vietnamese sport. |
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Unfortunately, the women’s sepak takraw team could not defend their title and lost to Thailand 2-1. |
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Vu Van Huyen also brought home another bronze medal in the men’s modern pentathlon |
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Wrestler Nguyen Thi Lua won the first ASIAD silver medal for Vietnam in that event. |
