Beijing Olympian Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu failed to win the first gold medal for Viet
Nam at the Asian Games yesterday, Nov 18, losing to Thailand’s Phongsri Sarita 4-3 in
the women’s Taekwondo under-53kg weight category final.

Perfect move: Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu (right) deals a right kick on her Thai rival in the women’s under-53kg final of taekwondo event in the Asian Games. Thu bagged a silver medal. (Photo: VNS)

Thu, 25, who took the
lead 3-1 in the first bout with a right kick to the face, would have won the
gold as the two sides drew in the second bout at Guangdong Gymnasium.

But the Vietnamese
athlete could not maintain her momentum in the third round when her Thai rival
fought back to win 4-3 with a counter-attack in the last 20 seconds.

It’s Viet Nam’s ninth
silver medal at Asia’s biggest sporting event.

Earlier yesterday,
Pham Thi Thao and Pham Thi Hue city bagged a silver in the women’s 2,000m double
sculls in rowing event with a time of seven minutes, 17.15 seconds.

Chinese Tian Liang and
Jin Ziwei finished first with 7:05.68, while South Korean Eun Ju-im and Young
Eun-ko came third.

The country’s top
badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh secured a quarter-final berth in the men’s
singles after a 21-18, 21-13 win over Thailand’s Saensomboonsuk in the final 16.

Minh meets Chinese Lin
Dan today.

Viet Nam have won nine
silver and 10 bronze medals and are 18th in the medal tally.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News