Viet Nam won three gold medals at the sixth competition day of the third Asian Indoor Games yesterday, November 5, to hold its second ranking in the medal tally.

On cue: Dang Dinh Tien takes a shot in the men’s singles carom 1 final against Japanese Machida Tadashi at HCM City’s Nguyen Du Gymnasium yesterday. Tien won 100-25 to win the gold medal of the Asian Indoor Games.

The first gold went to 24-year-old Nguyen Thi Hien in the petanque event after she beat Nur Izzati Ismail of Singapore 13-4 in the women’s single final at the Tu Liem Gymnasium.

To reach the final, Singapore’s Nur beat Souksakhone Sengchanh of Laos 13-6 while Hien beat Suphannee Wongsut of Thailand 13-11.

Viet Nam also won silver in this event when 26-year-old Pham Thanh Phong lost to Pakin Phukram of Thailand 14-3 in the men’s single final.

Viet Nam had another gold courtesy of Vu Thi Thao, Nguyen Thi Binh and Ngo Thi Quyen in the women’s team regu discipline of the pencak silat event. The runners-up were from Brunei and Malaysia.

Also in the pencak silat, Nguyen Viet Anh brought home silver in the men’s single tunggal behind Ahmad Saiful Lubis Shamsuddin of Malaysia. Haji Md Khairul Bahrin Haji Duraman of Brunei was third.

In 3-on-3 basketball, Viet Nam’s women took bronze after they beat Jordan 34-29 in the last match of the round robin competition. Viet Nam ranked third after two wins and two losses.

In the men’s 1 cushion singles final, Asian champion and home favourite Dang Dinh Tien had an easier-than-expected win against Japanese Machida Tadashi to win gold.

This was the nation’s first gold medal in billiards and snooker at the Games after medal hopes Duong Ann Vu in the men’s 3 cushion carom and Cao Thanh Truc in the, men’s 1 cushion carom failed to win.

Tien began the final confidently and created a good lead which he extended to 37 after eight innings at the break.

After the mid-session, Tien continued to increase his lead over a lack-lustre Machida who was visibly disappointed at his poor performance, scoring less than five points per innings.

Drawing a bead: Archer Zamanine Jad Reza of Iran eyes the bull in the men’s compound archery of the third Asian Indoor Games. Zamanine won the gold medal.

“By the time I recognised that I could do better than I did earlier in the match, it was all over,” Machida said.

“Tien is too strong,” he said. “He has very good technique, a good mentality and he knows how to deal with pressure.”

Tien said the victory did not come as a surprise.

“I beat him two months ago,” he said. “Moreover, I got off to a good start. This victory was easier than in the final against him at the Asian Billiards Championships in Seoul last September.”

Tien beat Machida in that match 100-82.

In the battle for bronze, South Korean Kim Kyung-roul overcame compatriot Cho Jae Ho 100-80.

Vietnamese kick-boxers shone yesterday when Dao Thi Thoan beat Saniya Suleimenova of Kazakhstan on points in the women’s semi-final 50kg. Thoan will meet Shimpi Ratnadiptee Kamalakar of India in the final match today.

Nguyen Van Su and Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai also beat their rivals in the men’s semi-contact 74kg and women’s low kick 52kg categories respectively to progress to the finals.

In Muay Thai tomorrow, host nation gold medal hopes Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat and Le Huu Phuc will compete in the finals of the men’s feather (57kg) and fly (51kg) categories, respectively.

Viet Nam had only one representative in the archery event final, favourite Nguyen Tien Cuong, but he only managed silver after being defeated by Reza Zamanine of Iran in the men’s compound.

In other finals, Narisara Tinbua grabbed gold for Thailand over Mahtab Parsamehr of Iran in the women’s compound.

In the men’s single recurve, Myeong Su Kim of South Korea defeated team-mate Woo Jin Kim for gold. And in the women’s event, Sejn An of South Korea beat Urantungalag Bishindee of Mongolia.

In the men’s futsal, unrivalled Iran, who scored 48 goals before the semi-final, continued showing his destructive attacking style in the semi-final, demolishing Turkmenistan 13-0 to set up a final against Thailand, who got past Uzbekistan 3-1.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News