VietNamNet Bridge – Canoeist Tran Van Long won Viet Nam its first medal in the C1 1,000m at the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games yesterday morning, Nov 11.

Digging deep: Canoeist Tran Van Long brings home the first medal for Viet Nam at the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia. Long came third in the men's C1 1,000m event. (Photo: VNS)
Long, who palmed two gold medals in the C1 1,000m and C1 200m events at the ASEAN Canoeing Championships in June, finished in third place with a time of 4min 27.64sec.

Eka Octarorianus of Indonesia won the gold after 4.16 while Myanmar's Win Htike pocketed a silver clocking 4.21:09.

Vietnamese coach Nguyen Van Thang said that Long, who has not yet fully recovered from a previous injury, struggled in the final stages due to unfamiliarity with the course on Cipule Lake.

However the Vietnamese still have a chance to win a gold medal in the women's K1 and K2 and men's K1 200m and C1 events.

The 19-member canoeing team was set to take part in 15 disciplines until tomorrow.

VNN/VNS/VOV