Yesterday was a memorable day for the Vietnamese men’s volleyball team as they brilliantly overpowered China 3-2 in a thrilling Pool E preliminary match at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
Vietnam's Pham Thai Hung in action during the match against China at the 2018 Asian Games on August 20.
Vietnam won the first two sets by 25-23 and 26-24, but failed to build on that advantage, letting China come from behind to equalise 2-2 with 25-19 and 25-22 triumphs in the next two sets.
The “yellow stars” finished off their Chinese opponents with a score of 21-19 in the decisive set to seal Vietnam’s first-ever victory over China at the national team level.
The fabulous start helped the Vietnamese men to second place in Pool E’s provisional standings. Next up for them will be a clash against Sri Lanka on August 23.
Vietnamese weightlifters Vuong Thi Huyen and Nguyen Thi Thuy failed to bring home a medal for Vietnam in the women’s 48kg category, as they ended up in fourth and fifth place, respectively with a total lift of 181kg for Huyen and 177kg for Thuy.
Vietnam’s hopes for weightlifting medals are now placed on the country’s top two lifters Tran Le Quoc Toan and Thach Kim Tuan, who are competing in the men’s 56kg class.
Vietnamese swimmer Le Nguyen Paul missed out on a place in the men’s 50m backstrokes and 200m individual medley finals, finishing 11th in the preliminary round of both categories with respective times of 26.20 seconds and 2:05.08.
Nguyen Huy Hoang qualified for the men’s 800m freestyle after settling for sixth place in the preliminary competition with a time of 7:56.78.
The men’s 4x200m freestyle relay also saw the Vietnamese swimmers make it through to the finals, clocking a time of 7:30.37 for a fifth-place finish in the preliminary round.
Vietnamese fencer Do Thi Anh beat Singapore’s Wong Jie Xin Maxine 5-3 and Thailand’s Siribrahmanakul Karanikar 5-0 to make the women’s individual foil quarterfinals, where she lost 0-15 to Japan’s Miyawaki Karin.
Vu Thanh An beat an Indonesian fencer 15-9 in the men’s sabre individual Round of 16, but then lost the quarterfinal match 11-15 against Seyed Ali of Iran. Meanwhile, An’s teammate, Nguyen Xuan Loi, will compete against Japan’s Tokunan Kenta for a quarterfinal place in the same event.
Vietnam’s tennis hope Ly Hoang Nam made light work of Ahmed Saai Waheed from Maldives 2-0 (6/0, 6/0) in the men’s singles opener to book a place in the next round.
Vietnamese wrestler Pham Thi Ha Phuong overcame Indonesia’s Dewi Ulfah 5-3 in the women’s freestyle 53kg Round of 16, but failed to defeat Sumiya Erdenechimeg of Mongolia in the quarterfinals.
Phuong’s compatriots, Kieu Thi Ly and Nguyen Thi My Hanh, also suffered the same fate as they lost to Mongolian opponents, Battsetseg and Purevdorj, in the women’s freestyle 57kg and 62 quarterfinal matches, respectively.
In separk takraw, Vietnam recorded a shocking 2-1 victory over Japan in the women’s team regu preliminary Group B opener. Next up for Vietnamese women is a clash with Indonesia on the same day.
