Olympics

Nguyễn Thùy Linh takes Việt Nam's first win at the Olympics after her 2-0 victory in the women's singles badminton event on July 24. AFP/VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s Olympic Team has made a brilliant start at the Tokyo Games, pocketing two wins in badminton and taekwondo this morning, the first official day of competition.

Badminton hopeful Nguyễn Thùy Linh took part in her first Olympics but was unsettled at the prospect of being in the same group as world No 1 Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei.

However, Linh, 23, was superb on the court with a win 21-11, 21-11 over  Qi Xuefei of France in the Group P opener that lasted 34 minutes. 

The win will give her a much-needed confidence boost moving in the next match against Tai who is seeded No 2.

"I am over the moon because I have not played for a long time. This victory is worth all that I have done to prepare for the tournament," said Linh.

"My coach and I researched her carefully and knew her weaknesses. I tried to defend well and made rapid attacks to score points and won," she said.

Coach Nguyễn Trung Dũng was happy with the result saying that he could not describe the feeling of joy. It was not only the first win of badminton but also of Việt Nam in these Games. 

Linh stuck to her tactics and limited her errors while making use of her strong smashes which brought her the win.

Dũng said with the first hurdle passed they were now focusing on the harder task on July 26.

Linh received a bonus for her win of VNĐ20 million (US$870) from the Việt Nam Badminton Federation.

Trương Thị Kim Tuyền advances to the quarter-finals of the women's 49kg category taekwondo event. AFP/VNA Photo

Minutes after Linh, Trương Thị Kim Tuyền also scored her first Olympics win in the women's 49kg taekwondo.

The Asian champion had no difficulty thrashing Canadian Yong Yvette 19-5 in the first round.

In the quarter-finals, she will compete against a powerful Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand. Wongpattanakit is the No 1 title holder and is the favourite. She won gold at the World Championships in 2015, silver at the World Championships in 2017 and bronze at the previous Olympics. Wongpattanakit is also the Asian Games and SEA Games defending champion.

Earlier, Vietnamese rowing duo Đinh Thị Hảo and Lường Thị Thảo finished fourth in the women's lightweight double sculls heat number two in a time of 7 minutes 36.21 seconds. They will take part in a repechage to vie for a berth in the semi-finals on July 25.

The Vietnamese rowing pair at the first official day of competition at the Olympics. AFP/VNA Photo

Upcoming will be shooting with Hoàng Xuân Vinh who will defend his title in the men's 10m air pistol, and Lê Thanh Tùng and Đinh Phương Thành who will perform in the gymnastics. Tuyền will also continue her fight and boxer Nguyễn Văn Đương will enter the ring. VNS