Đà Nẵng — Khudyakov Vitaliy of Kazakhastan won the first gold medal at the fifth Asian Beach Games (ABG5) after finishing first in the men’s 10km marathon swimming race in Đà Nẵng yesterday.

Khudyakov clocked 2hrs 3mins 7secs to win the first gold for his country and the first gold of the fifth annual Asian Beach Games (ABG5).

The 22-year-old also beat Wang Wenhao of China, who placed second in 2hrs 4mins 55secs, and Mohammad Saleh of Syria, who placed third in 2hrs 6mins 20secs. Vietnamese swimmer Nguyễn Huy Hoàng finished fourth in 2hrs 6mins 29secs.

“It was a hard race, but a happy one for me. I faced many tough rivals in the race. It took a lot of energy to win today,” Khudyakov said at the victory podium.

“The weather and competition conditions were quite good today. But I had to battle strong wind, big waves and hot weather.”

In the women’s 5km swimming race earlier yesterday, Sriphanomthorn Benjaporn from Thailand swam in 1hr 5mins 57.6secs to win gold medal for Thailand. She beat two Chinese opponents, Lei Shan, who finished second in 1hr 5mins 59.2secs, and Li Yilin, who placed third with a time of 1hr 6mins 1.9secs.

Two Vietnamese swimmers, Trần Thị Cẩm Hồng and Lê Thị My Thảo, finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Thailand and Kazakhstan tied for first place in the medal tally yesterday with one gold medal each. China followed close behind with two silvers and one bronze medal, while Syria came in third with one bronze medal.

Qualifying rounds of Kabaddi and Muay Thai were played yesterday, while most sports will be played after ABG5 opens this weekend.

The fifth Asian Beach Games will mark the first time the country hosts the Games, a multi-sport Asian-level competition, after hosting the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in 2009 and the ASEAN-level competition in the 2003 Southeast Asian Games. — VNS