Vietnam’s fencing team finished in third place overall at the sixth AFC U23 Championships 2017, which concluded in Hanoi on October 31, winning three silver and two bronze medals.

The awards ceremony for the women’s team epee competition. 

During the six-day competition, fencers from the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Hong Kong (China) showed off their superiority, preventing the Vietnamese competitors from taking any of the top honours, despite their presence in three of the 12 final matches.

Particularly, Vietnam’s narrow 44-45 defeat to Hong Kong in the women’s team epee semifinal on Tuesday left the host contestants with a lot of regrets, as they performed on a par with one of the strongest junior teams across the continent, including a fencer ranked 90th in the world.

Vu Van Hung brought home the solitary individual medal for Vietnam after finishing second in the men’s sabre event. The remaining silver medals were won in the men’s team sabre and epee categories.

The women’s team epee and sabre disciplines accounted for the host country’s two bronze medals.

The ROK team emerged as the overall champions, claiming 10 of the 12 gold medals at the tournament, alongside securing four silver and five bronze medals.

Hong Kong finished as runners-up with a collection of two gold, three silver and eight bronze medals.

Despite missing out on a top title, the tally of three silver and two bronze medals at a continental-level tournament could be regarded as an encouraging result for Vietnam’s young fencers.

The AFC U23 Championships took place in Hanoi from October 26 to 31, with the participation of almost 250 competitors, including 139 males and 108 females, from 21 countries and territories across Asia. Vietnam was represented by the largest number of athletes, at 45.

The fencers battled it out for medals in six individual and six team events, in the three categories of foil, epee and sabre.

Nhan Dan