HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam won bronze medals in wushu and sepak takraw at the Asian Games (ASIAD) 2018 in Indonesia on Wednesday.

Việt Nam’s female sepak takraw team took a bronze in the women’s regu event after losing to South Korea 0-2 in the semi-finals.

In the qualifying round, Việt Nam beat Japan and the hosts Indonesia.

Twelve years ago, Việt Nam won two gold medals in the women’s doubles and team event in the ASIAD 2006 in Qatar but since then they haven’t won the continental tournament.

Meanwhile, male wushu artist Nghiêm Văn Ý won another bronze in the men's sanda 60kh category after losing to Wang Xuetao of China in the semi-finals.

Earlier, female wushu athlete Hoàng Thị Phương Giang seized bronze in the women’s changquan category. She earned 9.71 points to finish third. Xinyi Qi of China took gold with 9.74 points, while Yi Li of Chinese Macau won silver with 9.72 points.

Born in 1992, Giang began training in wushu in 2004. She has won more than 40 titles at domestic and international events, including silver medals in the Asian and world championships in 2012 and 2013.

Yesterday saw Việt Nam’s golden hope Nguyễn Thị Thật fail in the women’s 104km road race cycling as she only ranked fifth with a time of 2:57.35.

Na Ah-reum of South Korea finished first, followed by Pu Yixian of China and Japanese Eri Yonamine.

The southern province of An Giang-born cyclist Thật stuck with her rivals well in the first 100km but faded towards the end of the race.

“I didn’t meet any problems in the race but it included many slopes and mountain passes, especially in the last stage so I wasn’t strong enough to sprint in the last kilometres. The winners today are very strong and they deserved to win,” said Thật.

 “I played with all my ability but my rivals were better than me so I have no regrets,” said Thật.

In February, Thật beat 26 rivals to win the women’s 106km road race at the Asian Road and Para Cycling Championships in Myanmar. It was the first gold medal won by a Vietnamese female cyclist in an Asian tour.

In March, she won the Grand Prix of Crevoisier 2018 in Les Genevez, Switzerland. Two weeks before that, the Southeast Asian Games winner finished second in the 16th Grand Prix of Chambery in France.

Following the Asian event, Thật  will return Switzerland to continue her training to prepare for the world championship later this year.

Jeon Gyumi (left) of South Korea competes during Women’s Team Regu semifinal of sepaktakraw between Việt Nam and South Korea at the 18th Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia yesterday. — Xinhua Photo

In swimming, all Vietnamese swimmers were ousted from the qualifying round.

Hoàng Quý Phước and Ngô Đình Chuyên only ranked 22nd and 24th in the men’s 100m butterfly. While in the women’s 200m freestyle, Mai Thị Linh didn’t qualify, finishing 17th place with a time of 2:08.08.

Phạm Thanh Bảo was also knocked out of the men’s 100m breaststroke as he finished in 18th position.

In the tennis, Việt Nam’s No 1 player Lý Hoàng Nam, world No 515, lost to Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India, world No 161, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6 in the men’s singles.

Nam and his teammate Nguyễn Văn Phương earlier lost to the No 12 seeds from Japan in the men’s doubles.

Meanwhile, the male gymnastics team finished fifth with 234.750 points in six performances. The gold medal went to China with 260.950 points. Japan took silver medal with 248.550 points and the bronze medal belonged to South Korea with 247.400 points. — VNS