VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam’s first gold on the sixth day of the ASEAN University Games in Kula Lumpur was won by Nguyen Thi Bac in the women’s 400m run.

Tran Tuan Quynh.

Quach Tu Pho disappointed in the men’s 400m race, finishing third with a time of 48.69. Indonesia’s Heru Astriyanto came in first, followed by Singapore’s Kian Seong.

Viet Nam’s karate team pocketed the second gold, beating Malaysian hosts to win 3-2 in the final.

Le Xuan Hung won bronze in the men’s individual kata (performance) event after losing 2-3 to Indonesia’s Faizal Zainudin in the semi-finals.

The women’s kumite (combat) took home a third gold for Viet Nam by beating Malaysia 7-2 in the final.

Commentators’ predictions that the karate team would beat Malaysia to first place in the men’s kumite final proved wrong. Their expectations and a promising strong start made the defeat by Malaysian rivals harder to take. Malaysia came from behind to win 3-2.

In shooting events, Pham Truong Nam took silver in the men’s individual 50m pistol, 60 shots, with 627.6 points. Ahmad Zafri Ahmad Zamil from Malaysia came first with a score of 627.9.

Viet Nam took another beating by Malaysia in the team event, finishing eight points behind the winning score of 538.

Fortunes turned for the better on Monday. Athletes dazzled crowds in one record-breaking performance and five gold medal wins. Two golds were won in table tennis, three in athletics.

Nguyen Van Huynh beat Indonesia’s Wibowo Suryi Agung’s 100m record with a time of 10.24.

He failed to repeat the time in the final but still finished first.

Two other golds went to Nguyen Duy Bang (2.10m) and Bui Thi Nhat Thanh in (6.14m) in the men’s high jump and long jump.

In table tennis, duo Do Duc Duy and Tran Tuan Quynh triumphed in the men’s doubles event.

Their female teammates, Luong Thi Tam and Pham Thi Thien Kim, added to the gold tally in a heart-stopping final in the women’s doubles event.

Viet Nam are coming second on the sixth day with 10 golds, eight silvers and two bronze. Malaysia are sitting on top with two golds more than Viet Nam. Thailand are in third position with four gold, five silver and 15 bronze.

The 12-day tournament kicked off on December 11 and will close on December 21. It has attracted hundreds of students from 10 countries who are competing for medals in 22 sports.

(Source: Viet Nam News)