VietNamNet Bridge – The first Asian Beach Games concluded yesterday in Bali, Indonesia with the domination of the host, who pocketed 23 gold, eight silver and 20 bronze medals.

Photo: Bali2008.com

Viet Nam, who had a target of one gold medal, exceeded their task with two golds, five silvers and three bronzes, ranking eighth in the final medal tally.

While most medal-winners were predicted before the delegation left for Bali, the last bronze that Chau Ba Anh Tu secured in the marathon swimming event last Saturday was a surprise.

Swimming was not considered Viet Nam’s strong point and the athletes mainly participated in this event to gain experience, but Tu managed to finish third in the men’s 5km event with a time of 1 hour 1 minute 57 seconds.

Tu had a good start and swam very well. He made strong moves in the last 700m and was among the first four swimmers.

In fact, Tu would not have receive his medal if China’s Li Tinhan hadn’t forgotten to touch the electric finishing board, disqualifying his second-place win.

His silver was given to his teammate Xu Wenhao with a time of 1:1.55 and Tu of Viet Nam was awarded the bronze.

The gold went to Syria’s Mohammad Saleh, who finished in only 1:0.23.

On the women’s side, Vo Thi Thanh Vy finished fourth, after one swimmer from Hong Kong and two from mainland China.

Viet Nam also had two swimmers compete in the 10km events yesterday, the last day of the competition.

Nguyen Thi Kirn Oanh failed to raise Viet Nam’s medal count with her fourth place in the women’s 10km. Oanh finished at 2:22.33, some 10 seconds slower than the third-placed Tang Wing Yung Natasa Terri of Hong Kong.

Oanh’s teammate Tran Duc Huy finished sixth in the men’s category.

The closing ceremony was held at 8 pm last night in Garuda Wisnu Kencana, a cultural park in Nusa Dua.

Highlights of the ceremony included a collaborative presentation of traditional Indonesian song and dance from Bali and the five major islands, performed by 150 dancers, musicians and some of the top singers from Indonesia, including Titiek Puspa, Inul Daratista, Shanty, Andy RIF and Samuel.

Entertainers from Oman, the host of the next Asian Beach Games, also performed at the ceremony. Indonesian Vice President Muhammad Yusuf Kalla, one of several distinguished guests expected to attend, addressed the audience on the success of the historic games.

After the handover of the Asian Beach Games torch from Indonesia to Oman, which welcomed the Games to Muscat in 2010, the nine days of beachside competition in Bali officially came to an end with the extinguishing of the flame.

(Source: VNS/ Bali2008.com)