Trinh Dinh Thoi finished 18th out of 24 athletes in the Snowboarding’s men’s slalom event at the ongoing Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan.

Thoi finishes his competition at the Snowboarding’s men’s slalom event at the ongoing Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan. 

Thời, who is one of the six Vietnamese making his debut in the Winter Games, passed the first run at No 22. He did better in the second one at No 18 with a time of 2min 24.75sec, which was much better than his previous result of 2:33.57, but was far away from the medal list.

His teammate Nguyen Thai Binh made a technical mistake and was disqualified.

Under the -13°C temperature, the Vietnamese were cheered by spectators as after only one week of familiarising themselves with the snow and the weather they emerged with better results than the Japanese and the Iranian competitors who have grown up with winters in the snow.

International media and NHK television also interviewed them for their comments.

“We were like a fish out of water, as it was our first time at a Winter Games and we were also at a disadvantage as we were the last athletes to compete. But the result was pretty good. We have learnt from the experience and know how to do better in the next event,” said Mai Bá Hùng, chef de mission of the Viet Nam team.

Lee Sang-ho of South Korea took the gold (1:16.09) in this event. He was followed by Japanese Yuya Suzuki and teammate Kim Sang-kyum.

Viet Nam’s Nguyen Duc Manh will be the next one to compete in the men’s 10km classical cross-country skiing on Thursday.

VNS