Vietnam wins 8 gold medals on the first day of the ASEAN Para Games 2017.

On the first day of competition (September 18th) of the ASEAN Para Games 2017 in Malaysia, Vietnamese athletes won a total of 8 gold medals in swimming, athletics, and weightlifting. All gold medal winners received cash prizes from sponsor Herbalife.

Vi Thi Hang was rewarded by Herbalife for winning Vietnam's first gold medal at the Games. Photo: TP

The weightlifting team had a very successful day of competition as Le Van Cong and Nguyen Binh An won gold medals and significantly broke the ASEAN Para Games records in the men's 49kg and 54kg categories.

Swimmers also performed quite well in the water, winning 4 gold medals. 27-year-old swimmer Vi Thi Hang unexpectedly "opened the scoring" with a gold medal in the women's 100m freestyle S7 disability category, an event she had never won in her two previous appearances.

However, that was also the only gold medal for Vietnamese swimming on the first day of competition. The other three gold medals were all won by male swimmers: Vo Huynh Anh Khoa (100m freestyle men's disability category S9), Ha Van Hiep (50m breaststroke disability category SB3), and Nguyen Thanh Trung (50m breaststroke disability category SB4).

Nguyen Thanh Trung won a gold medal on the first day of swimming competition. Photo: TP

Herbalife rewards swimmer Nguyen Thanh Trung with a bonus for winning the gold medal. Photo: TP.

On the athletics track, Vietnam failed in all the races and only won two gold medals in throwing events. Specifically, Cao Ngoc Hung won the gold medal in the men's javelin throw in the F57 disability category, and Nguyen Thi Hai won the gold medal in the women's discus throw in the F56/57 disability category.

With this result, Vietnam is temporarily ranked fourth overall after Indonesia (22 gold medals), Malaysia (18 gold medals), and Thailand (8 gold medals). Indonesia created a significant gap with the other competitors thanks to its dominance in two important Paralympic sports: athletics (11 gold medals) and swimming (9 gold medals). Meanwhile, host country Malaysia gained an advantage over its rivals with 12 gold medals in cycling.

According to TTO