AIMAG

HÀ NỘI — Trịnh Văn Vinh and Nguyễn Tiến Trọng won two gold medals for Việt Nam at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Turkmenistan late on Tuesday.

Vinh was the No 1 candidate in the men’s 62kg weightlifting category, facing powerful rivals from China, North Korea and the hosts.

The Vietnamese lifted 136kg in the snatch and 166kg in the clean and jerk. With a total of 302kg he was 14kg heavier than Chinese opponent Lei Haitao, who placed second.

Meretguly Sahetmyradov of Turkmenistan finished third with 287kg.

It was Vinh’s second title in one month. He triumphed at last month’s Southeast Asian Games with a lift of 307kg, setting a new Games record.

Trọng, meanwhile, won his gold in the men’s long jump event with a result of 7.48m in the third attempt.

He was followed by Amila Wuayalath Pedife of Sri Lanka who jumped 7.45m and Chan Ming Tai from Hong Kong with 7.44m.

Track-and-field athletes also brought home two silvers.

Việt Nam’s new sprint queen Lê Tú Chinh grabbed her silver in the women’s 60m event at her Games debut. Chinh was the top player in the qualification after running 7.39sec, setting her personal best.

However, in the final, Chinh, who won three gold medals at the Malaysian Southeast Asian Games last month, finished second with 7.36sec, again her personal and seasonal best.

Viktoriya Zyabkina (7.32sec) and Olga Safronova (7.43), both of Kazakhstan, took the gold and bronze, respectively.

“I know people felt bad for Chinh for coming second. She had the best result among the athletes in the heats but failed to win. But, in fact, her silver was stunning,” coach Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hương said.

Hương explained that Chinh was exhausted after the SEA Games. She had only one week to prepare for this AIMAG, which both the coach and the athlete did not consider a key tournament of the year and set a target of a bronze medal.

“Chinh had to work hard for the SEA Games. She is a young athlete. It is an encouraging result for her at her AIMAG debut, where her key rival Zyabkina was very strong and at the peak of her career,” Hương said.

“Chinh lost to her at the April Grand Prix 100m event where Zyabkina completed the race in 11.01sec. This time, Chinh could not win but successfully narrowed the gap between them,” she added.

Việt Nam’s second silver of the day went to Nguyễn Thị Hằng in the women’s 400m.

Hằng ran her personal best of 54.41sec and ranked second behind Elena Mikhina of Kazakhstan who took 53.37sec. Thai representative Atchima Eng-chuan finished third with 54.45sec.

On the final day of jujitsu, Đào Lê Thu Trang lost 0-5 to Margarita Ochoa of the Philippines in the women’s 45kg final.

Her teammate Dương Thị Thanh Minh took a bronze in the women’s 49kg class.

In taekwondo, Nguyễn Văn Duy bagged a bronze after losing 8-28 to Thai Nutthawee Klompong in the semifinals of the men’s 63kg.

In Muay Thai, the country’s best hope Nguyễn Trần Duy Nhất, seven-time world champion, unexpectedly lost 27-30 to Chilnak Pravit of Thailand in the men’s 60kg quarterfinals.

His teammate Bùi Yến Ly, however, advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 51kg after beating Filipino Carissa Tarapen 30-27 on Tuesday.

In futsal, Việt Nam grabbed their first win at the tournament, winning 8-0 over Hong Kong and boosting their chances of entering the semifinals.

Quốc Nam opened the score in the seventh minute. Minh Trí made it 2-0 just 60 seconds later.

It took the Vietnamese another four minutes to net the third by Đức Tùng and later the fourth goal was scored by Ngọc Sơn in the first half.

Four other goals in the second half were scored by Trọng Luân, Thái Huy with a double and Mạnh Dũng.

With three points, Việt Nam rank second behind Solomon Islands in Group A. The two teams will play each other tonight.

Following two days of competition, Việt Nam currently sit in No 7 place with three gold, five silver and six bronze medals.

Turkmenistan, Iran and Kazakhstan are the three leading delegations, respectively. — VNS