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Despite her silver medal, Hang failed to equal her personal best of 4:09.58, which she set up at the Guangzhou Asian Games last November.
The top rated athlete narrowly missed beating Genzeb Shumi Regasa from Bahrain who won in 4:15.91.
The bronze medal went to J. Orchatteri Puthiya from India who finished the race in a time of 4:21.41.
Hang is set to compete in the 800m event tomorrow afternoon, a race in which she will come up against athletes including Margarita Matsko from Kazakhstan who has won the Asian Games gold medal on a previous occasion.
During the course of this year Hang is also set to face young rival Tintu Luka from India who currently holds the 1:59.17 record, the best result among competitors.
Although Hang ran a 2:00.91 time at the Asian Games, her result was not recognised seeing as the International Association of Athletics Federations only recognised results seven to eight months ahead of the Olympics.
Hang will only have one day to prepare for her important race today while Le Thi Phuong competes in the women's pole vault, Nguyen Van Mua in the men's long jump and Southeast Asian (SEA) Games champion Nguyen Dinh Cuong in the men's 800m event.
The Viet Nam delegation received bad news when ‘iron man' Vu Van Huyen quit the team due to illness.
Huyen, who previously won a bronze medal at the Asian Games, was struck down by flu upon arrival in Japan.
The three-time SEA Games winner, ranked fourth after four events, had to withdraw from the men's 400m event in the opening day of the championship on Thursday.
The Kobe championship, which has attracted athletes from 40 different countries competing in 42 events for both men and women, will conclude tomorrow.
Source: VNS
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