Vietnamese archers Nguyen Tien Cuong and Chau Kieu Oanh brought home a bronze medal and broke a Southeast Asian (SEA) Games’ record in the mixed doubles 70m three-stringed bow event at the Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 18.

In the bronze medal match, the Vietnamese pair defeated Paul Marton Dela Cruz and Amaya Amparo Cojuangco of the Philippines 159-155.

According to coach Cap Manh Tan, Vietnam’s score of 159 points was recognised as a new SEA Games record, beating the old record of 157 points. It is also a new Vietnamese record.

Earlier, Cuong and Oanh beat the Thai team 156 – 154 in the quarter-finals, however they lost to Fatin Salleh and Mohda Mazuki of the hosts 152-154 in the semi-finals.

Malaysia’s Mazuki and Salleh clinched the nation’s third gold medal at the NSC Synthetic in Bukit Jalil.

The duo defeated Myanmar’s Aung Ngeain and Ye Min We 152-142 in the final.

Vietnam have had pocketed two silver and one bronze medals in the archery event, thanks largely to 20-year-old archer Oanh.

She won silver in the women’s individual compound event and then alongside Le Ngoc Huyen and Nguyen Thi Nhat Le won another silver in the women’s three-stringed bow.

“I never thought that I was a medal hope of Vietnam at the largest regional sport event. I only thought that competing in the Games was a joy for me,” said Oanh.

The southern province of Trà Vinh-born player has trained for four years, however, she nearly gave it up at one point.

“You must be very strong to be an archer. A bow weighs three-four kilogrammes and the force to pull it is nearly 20kg. I have a good body but I am not good in physical strength so I have trained so much to stay in the team,” said Oanh.

Last year, Oanh won a gold medal and broke the national record at the domestic junior event.
 
In other news, Viet Nam’s female futsal team lost to Thailand 3-1 in their first match yesterday.

Vietnam played cautiously from the beginning, leading to a scoreless first half.

In the second period, Thailand dominated with three goals while Vietnam scored only one goal, making the match end 3-1.

The Vietnamese players will face hosts Malaysia in the second match on August 22.

On the men’s side, Vietnam also lost to Thailand 4-1.

VNS