Viet
Nam added its name to the 16th Asian Games medal tally yesterday, Nov 14, when
wushu artist Nguyen Manh Quyen won a medal on the second day of competition in
Guangzhou, China.

First step: Nguyen Manh Quyen of Viet Nam competes in the men’s wushu gunshu at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou in which he won a bronze medal. Macau’s Jia Rui won gold followed by South Korean Lee Jonq-chan for silver. — AFP/VNA Photo

Quyen scored 19.38
points in the daoshu and gunshu events during the all-around competition at the
Nansha Gymnasium to claim the bronze, the first medal for the Vietnamese sport
delegation which failed to pocket a single medal on the first day of the Games
on Saturday despite strong contenders.

“After I came in third
place in the daoshu event I was confident that I would be in the top three and I
did it,” Quyen said.

Jia Rui made history
yesterday by winning’s Macau’s first-ever Asian Games gold medal when he
pocketed victory with 19.61 points in the wushu all-around for the former
Portuguese colony.

South Korea’s Lee
Jong-chan took silver with 19.42 points.

Macau has competed in
the ASIAD since 1990 but until Jia’s breakthrough performance had only ever won
five silver and 10 bronze.

The 23-year-old said
it was a proud moment for him and his homeland.

“The gold medal
belongs not only to me, but to Macau,” he said.

“It is not easy to win
a gold medal. Wushu is a hobby for many people in Macau and this will be a big
step for the sport at home.”

Jia, who also competed
at the last ASIAD in Doha four years ago, said just being here was a dream.

“Doha was my first
Asian Games and it was like a dream because as a child, I watched the Asian
Games on TV and felt it was far away. Now, I’m living in the athlete village and
I am part of the atmosphere.”

Lee praised the man
from Macau.

“The Asian Games are
competitive – all my opponents were competitive, but the toughest one to beat
was Jia Rui.”

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News