HÀ NỘI — Archer Châu Kiều Oanh won a silver medal at the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Malaysia yesterday, Việt Nam’s first medal the this year’s Games.

Oanh lost 143-144 to Sri Ranti of Indonesia in the final of the women’s individual three-string bow category.

It was the first time Oanh took part in the region’s largest sporting event and is relatively inexperienced internationally.

“I regretted that I made an error in the first shot because of psychological pressure. Although I tried my best I couldn’t take gold. However, I am very happy as it is my first medal in the Games. I want to give it my parents,” said Oanh.

Oanh said if she won gold it would be a special gift for her on the occasion of her birthday.

“I was determined to win gold in Malaysia to celebrate my 20th birthday on August 21. But in sport, anything can happen. I still have two more events so I will make every effort to gain the best result,” Oanh added.

Earlier, the southern province of Trà Vinh-born player Oanh beat Su Su Hlaing of Myanmar 139-134 in the qualifying round. She defeated Aung Ngeain of Myanmar 144-141 in the quarter-finals and then Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh of the hosts 145-142 in the semi-finals.

Also in this division, Fatin of Malaysia won the bronze medal after crushing Dellie Threesyadinda of Indonesia. The 26-year-old Fatin won three gold medals in the previous Games in Singapore two years ago.

“Oanh is very young but her skills are very good. Her result in the semi-finals is equivalent to the result of men’s archers,” said Bùi Trường Giang, head of the archery section of the National Sports Administration.

Meanwhile, Việt Nam’s golden hope in this event, Nguyễn Tiến Cương failed on the men’s side. The 29-year-old archer lost to teammate Nguyễn Văn Đầy in the qualifying round. However, Đầy couldn’t move further as he lost to Indonesian Prima Wisnu in the quarter-finals.

Hanoian Cương bagged two gold medals at the Games in 2013 in Myanmar and in 2015 in Singapore.

In other news, Malaysia won their first gold medal in the men’s chinlone (also called sepak takraw) yesterday, which was also the first gold medal to be awarded at the Games.

In the final at the Titiwangsa Indoor Stadium, the national chinlone squad led by Muhammad Faiz Roslan grabbed gold by collecting 391 points to beat the Philippines which had 271 points. — VNS