VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese scullers won their second silver in the lightweight women's 2,000m quadruple sculls at the Asian Games in Guangzhou yesterday, Nov 19.

Attack: Vietnamese players (in white jerseys) seen in an attack on Thailand during the semi-final match of the women's sepak takraw team event. Viet Nam won a bronze medal. (Photo: VNS)
Pham Thi Hai, Dang Thi Tham, Nguyen Thi Huu and Tran Thi Sam clocked 6min 48.43sec – 13sec slower than the Chinese gold medallists. Iran finished third in 6:52.45.

It was the second silver of the team. On Thursday, Pham Thi Thao and Pham Thi Hue grabbed the first one in the 2,000m women's doubles sculls at the International Rowing Centre.

Earlier, the women's sepak takraw team performed poorly yesterday, losing 2-0 to Thailand in the semi-finals to take the bronze.

At the Asian Games in Qatar four years ago the team won two golds.

Xiangqi master Nguyen Thanh Bao yesterday added the 11th silver medal to Viet Nam's medal tally seven days into competition in Guangzhou.

Bao's silver medal exceeded his coaches' expectations, as they had targeted bronze for their male athletes.

"I am lucky to win the silver because two Chinese masters including one world champion competed in the event. I could have even won the gold medal if I had not been so nervous in the match against China's Hong Zhi," said Bao.

Bao and Hong were tied with 11 points each after seven matches but he was ranked second because of his previous loss to the Chinese.

"It was regrettable to lose that match. Honestly we could have tied. If it happened, the door would have been widely open for me to take the title. But I lost and failed to reach the top podium," Bao said.

In other news, national top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh was eliminated from ASIAD after his 9-21, 16-21 defeat to China's No 1 Lin Dan.

Minh, who made history with Viet Nam's first ever presence in an ASIAD quarter-final round, has never enjoyed a victory over Lin.

Minh was the second and last Vietnamese badminton player to remain in the tournament. His teammate Vu Thi Trang was sent back home on Wednesday after her first round loss to Lydia Cheah of India. Vietnamese athletes have missed four clear opportunities to win golds in chess, taekwondo, shooting and wushu.

Viet Nam have so far won 11 silver and 11 bronze medals. They are lying 20th in the medals table.


VietNamNet/Viet Nam News