Vu
Thi Huong pulled off a season’s best performance in the women’s 100m sprint
yesterday, Nov 22, but it was not enough to satisfy Viet Nam’s desire for their
first gold medal at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Season best: Vu Thi Huong (centre) on her way to winning a bronze medal in the 100m sprint at the Asian Games. (Photo: VNS)

The queen of Southeast
Asian sprinting finished third for a bronze medal in a time of 11.43sec.

Viet Nam’s fastest
woman improved as the competition went on, having run 11.56 in Sunday’s
qualifier and 11.46 in yesterday’s semi-final. But it was not enough for her to
top the podium as Japan’s Chisato Fukushima, the Asian champion, stole the
limelight with a time of 11.33.

The 22-year-old beat
defending champion Guzel Khubbieva of Uzbekistan by just one hundredth of a
second in a photo finish.

“It [11.43] is not my
personal best but it is my best for this season,” said Huong. “Winning a medal
is a good result for me because I have put a lot of effort into it.”

Huong’s bronze could
not make Viet Nam’s managers smile but they took comfort in the fact that it was
the country’s first track and field medal ever at the Asian Games.

Coach Nguyen Dinh Minh
said he was satisfied with Huong’s performance. “She ran well today despite a
slower start compared to her rivals,” said Minh.

Duong Duc Thuy, head
of the Athletics Department, said the bronze was very important for Vietnamese
athletics.

“It is great success
and a big step for Viet Nam as it’s our first bronze in such a major sport at an
event where all the athletes aim for the highest target.”

There were high hopes
for Viet Nam ahead of the final, as Huong lined up alongside teammate Le Ngoc
Phuong.

Phuong surpassed her
coach’s expectations this year, by leading home her heat before qualifying for
yesterday’s final with a personal best time of 11.65. The An Giang Province-born
athlete had not been expected to make it through the heats and was competing at
the Games to get an experience of international competition.

However, Phuong failed
to repeat her time in the final, finishing last in 11.76. Phuong will pair with
Huong and two other athletes in the 4×100m relay today before she participates
in the 200m tomorrow.

On the men’s side,
only Nguyen Dinh Cuong of Viet Nam competed yesterday in the 1,500m. Cuong, who
dominated the Southeast Asian Games, could not repeat the feat at the higher
continental level, and failed to qualify for the final.

The Ninh Binh Province
athlete will take part in the 800m tomorrow.

In other news, Viet
Nam’s girls defeated Myanmar 21-9, 23-21 in the sepak takraw’s regu event. They
will next meet hosts China today.

It was Viet Nam’s only
win yesterday. Earlier, Viet Nam lost 199-226 to Japan in the men’s team
archery. While Ngo Thi Chung and Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai were sent home after their
defeats in the women’s boxing. The fencers also suffered a loss of 22-45 to
Japan in the women’s foil quarter-finals.

Viet Nam ended the
tenth day of competitions with 11 silver and 12 bronze medals, standing at 25th.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News