Viet Nam continue hunt for second gold at Doha 

(11-12-2006)

HA NOI — Viet Nam sepak takraw team won a silver medal at the Asian Games in Doha after they lost to Thailand 2-1 (21-19, 21-23, 9-15) in the women’s regu event yesterday.

They were expecting to win another gold after a convincing 2-0 victory over Myanmar (21-12, 21-12) in the semi-finals yesterday morning.

Last Wednesday, Viet Nam won its first gold medal of the Games after beating Thailand 2-1 in the team event.

Taekwondo martial artists won a silver and a bronze medal for Viet Nam at the Asian Games in Doha last weekend.

Hoang Ha Giang, who won a gold medal at 6th World Taekwondo Federation Junior Championships in HCM City in July, came second in the women’s event after losing 2-0 to defending world champion Kim Bo-hye from South Korea in the women’s 55kg final.

Earlier, countryman Vu Anh Tuan took third place in the men’s 62kg event after losing 7-0 to South Korean Kim Ju-yong.

Last Friday, Bui Thu Hien and Do Thi Bich Hanh pocketed two bronze medals in the women’s 67kg and 51kg events.

The taekwondo team was dealt a blow last weekend when Nguyen Trong Cuong, who acted as Viet Nam’s flag bear in the opening ceremony of the Games and who was replacing his brother Nguyen Van Hung, suffered a knee injury in a bout against South Korea’s Park Kyeong-hoon in the men’s 84kg class and was forced to retire from the competition.

In last December’s Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines, Cuong took a gold medal before bagging a bronze in the World Junior Taekwondo Championship in HCM City seven months later.

Pool silver

Meanwhile, in the pool hall, cue master Duong Anh Vu took the silver medal in the men’s carom 3 cushion singles event after losing in a tense two-hour final against Japan’s Umeda Ryuji last Saturday.

Vu started badly but managed to draw level at 24-24 after an hour. But he could not keep up the pressure on his Japanese opponent who went on to win 40-29.

There was a feeling of deja vu for the 26-year-old HCM City player: In the Busan Asian Games four years ago, his father Duong Hoang Anh also took home a silver medal in the carom libre after losing to Viet Nam’s Tran Dinh Hoa.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam’s No 1 player Luong Chi Dung beat Hong Kong’s Au Chi Wai 11-7 in the pool-9 event, while Nguyen Thanh Nam cruised to an easy 11-5 victory over Naseef Ayhab.

Athletics

In the track and field events, Southeast Asian Games (SEA) gold medalist Vu Thi Huong finished fourth in the final of the 100m sprint after clocking 11.59 seconds.

High jumper Nguyen Duy Bang, who holds the Southeast Asia high jump record of 2.25m which he set at the All Asian Stars Athletics Championship in Singapore two years ago, cleared the bar at 2.10m but failed to make 2.15m last Saturday.

Lebanon’s Rabbath Jean Claude took the gold medal after clearing 2.23m.

In the women’s 800m, Do Thi Bong came seventh with a time of two minutes 7.75 seconds.

In the indoor events, fencers Nguyen Thi Le Dung and Trinh Thi Ly, who are both in the last 16 in the women’s singles sabre competition, lost to Japanese and Hong Kong rivals.

Wrestler Nguyen Van Duc, who won the Asian bronze medal, lost 3-1 to Iraqi Salmal Ali in the men’s 96kg category. — VNS