Asian Games

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam won two more silvers in swimming and rowing at the ongoing Asian Games (ASIAD) 2018 in Indonesia yesterday.

Young swimmer Nguyễn Huy Hoàng shocked fans after getting a medal in the men’s 1,500m freestyle at only 18 years old. He finished second in his division with a time of 15:01.63. Sun Yang of China ranked first with a time of 14:58.53.

Earlier, Hoàng also won a bronze medal in the men’s 800m freestyle.

Hoàng, from the central province of Quảng Bình, triumphed in the men’s 1,500m freestyle at SEA Games 29 in Malaysia last year.

Meanwhile, female Vietnamese rowers including Phạm Thị Huệ, Lê Thị Hiền, Trần Thị An and Đinh Thị Hảo, bagged one more silver medal in the women’s fours category with a time of 7:14.52.

Chinese rowers took gold with a time of 7:05.50. The hosts Indonesia won bronze medal with a time of 7:19.02.

This is the sixth silver medal won by the Vietnamese delegation at ASIAD 2018.

Earlier, the Vietnamese female rowing team, comprised of Tạ Thanh Huyền, Lường Thị Thảo, Hồ Thị Lý and Phạm Thị Thảo brought home the first gold medal for Việt Nam. Their win marked the first time Vietnamese rowers have earned a gold medal in an Olympic category.

With one gold and one silver, the rowing team has achieved the best results among the Việt Nam sports delegation at the Asian event.

Flipping good: Gymnast Lê Thanh Tùng competes in the men’s final at the Asian Games yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Linh

In addition to silvers, Việt Nam gained two more bronzes in shooting and jiu jit-su.

Marksman Ngô Hữu Vượng overcame Cho Se-jong of South Korea 6-1 in the third-placed match of the men’s 10m air rifle to take bronze. The gold medal went to Jeong You-jin of South Korea and Park Myong-won of North Korea won silver.

Vượng’s medal is the first for the shooting team at this year’s competition. Earlier, Vietnamese Olympic gold medallist Hoàng Xuân Vinh failed to qualify in the 10m air pistol category. He said that his gold medal in the Rio Olympics put pressure on him before the games in Indonesia.

In jiu jit-su, which is a martial art and combat sport system that focuses on grappling and ground fighting, Dương Thị Thanh Minh won bronze after beating Alyafei Wadima of the UAE 3-0 in the women’s 49 kg.

Earlier, Minh easily beat Tobing Cornelia Lumban of India 5-0 and Avezmetova Sayara of Turkmenistan 3-0 in the qualifying matches.

Minh’s teammate, Đào Lê Thu Trang was defeated by Pirhady Nahid of Iran 0-2 in the women’s 49kg in the first qualifier. While Đào Hồng Sơn was unable to beat UAE’s Alblooshi Khalid in the men’s 56kg.

In other shocking news, Trần Văn Thảo was ousted from the qualifying round in the men’s 52kg.

Thảo is Việt Nam’s best hope in boxing. Thảo won the WBC Asia Super Flyweight title last November. Over his career, he has won all 10 of his fights, with seven coming from knock-outs in the men’s 52kg category.

Although Thảo made every effort, he lost to arch rival Hu Jianguan from China who won bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 5-0.

Jianguan is a key player in China’s boxing team. He is expected to gain gold in the Asian event and at the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

In the men’s 69kg category, Vietnamese boxer Trần Đức Thọ qualified for the next round as his rival, Waisuddin Ghawsi of Afghanistan, retired.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese pencak silat martial artists continued to shine in Indonesia to reach the semi-finals on August 26 and will surely bring home medals in this event.

Asian champion Nguyễn Ngọc Toàn beat Vongphakdy Mino of Laos 5-0 in the quarter-finals of the men’s 60-65kg. Toàn will now face Loon Jefferson Rhey of the Philippines.

After that, Toàn’s teammate Phạm Tuấn Anh also easily overcame Phuttan Wutthichai of Thailand in the quarter-finals of the men’s 65-70kg. While SEA Games silver medallist Phạm Tuấn Anh didn’t need much time to beat a Thai rival in the men’s 65-70kg.

In gymnastics, Asian champion Lê Thanh Tùng only ranked sixth in the men’s vault final with 13.187 points. While Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên failed in the qualifying round of the women’s 200m medley after clocking a time 2:19.79 and said goodbye to Asia’s biggest sporting event. Earlier, top Vietnamese swimmer also failed in the women’s 400m medley.

Việt Nam have earned one gold, six silvers and nine bronzes to rank 16th in the medal tally. — VNS