Vietnamese sports say goodbye to ASIAD 19: Confidence from golden faces
The Vietnam Sports Delegation (VSD) ended the 19th Asian Games with 3 gold medals - an achievement that was not as high as expected. But anyway, we can still put our faith in the golden faces in Hangzhou.
With 27 medals (3 gold, 5 silver and 19 bronze), the Vietnamese sports delegation ranked 21st in the medal table. This result also helped the Vietnamese sports delegation complete the target of achieving 2 to 5 gold medals set before the 19th ASIAD.
Excellent in shooting, sepak takraw, karate
It was not until the 5th day of competition, when the gold hopes, which were already few, kept falling one by one, that the "gold thirst" was finally quenched. Shooter Pham Quang Huy was the one who brought home the first gold medal when he won the final of the men's 10m air pistol individual event.
Pham Quang Huy excellently won 240.5 points, surpassing silver medalist Lee Won Ho (Korea) by 1.1 points. Participating in this event were many famous shooters such as Schvechnikov (Uzbekistan, bronze medalist) and especially world champion Zhang Bowen of China. Not only did it "open" the gold medal for Vietnam at the 19th ASIAD, it was also the first gold medal in the history of shooting at the Asian Games.
The Vietnamese women's sepak takraw team went through a challenging journey to bring home the gold medal after 17 years. It was an excellent comeback against Indonesia, Vietnam's biggest rival as Thailand did not participate in this event. Facing an opponent that was rated lower, Vietnam was somewhat nervous in the first set, losing 18-21. However, our girls regained their composure to win 21-18, 21-14 and take the gold medal. The gold medal showed the class and mettle of the Vietnamese players.
Karate also performed excellently at the 19th ASIAD. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Luu Thi Thu Uyen, and Nguyen Ngoc Tram had an excellent performance to bring home the third gold medal in the women's team performance category. Participating in two finals and bringing home a gold medal and a silver medal within just 30 minutes shows that the Karate team deserves to be the main force of Vietnam at the 2023 ASIAD.
Highlights of Huy Hoang, women's volleyball team
Although he did not win gold, Nguyen Huy Hoang's bronze medal in the 800m freestyle swimming was truly valuable. This swimmer finished 3rd with a time of 7 minutes 51 seconds 44 to win the bronze medal, and officially met the A standard to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Huy Hoang successfully defended this achievement when he won the bronze medal at the 2018 ASIAD. Huy Hoang became the 3rd athlete of Vietnam to have a ticket to France next year, after Trinh Thu Vinh (shooting) and Nguyen Thi That (cycling).
At ASIAD 19, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team emerged as a bright spot, inspiring teammates and fans alike. Looking back at the journey of the country's women's volleyball team in 2023, we clearly see the girls' strong development in terms of expertise and competitive spirit. Perhaps the key is that they are constantly exposed to top-level environments.
The players surprised fans and the Asian volleyball community when they won the 2023 Asian Women's Club Volleyball Cup. From this championship, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team will represent Asia to compete in the 2023 FIVB Women's Club Volleyball World Cup in December 2023 in China.
The next highlight is the AVC Challenge Cup 2023 championship, thereby winning a place in the FIVB Challenge Cup 2023. Those successes further confirm that the Vietnamese women's volleyball team has changed rapidly in terms of expertise. Therefore, it is not surprising that coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet and his team have reached the semi-finals of the Asian Games this time. This is not a temporary sublimation, but a step forward in the level of Vietnamese women's volleyball.
Athletics and boxing disappointment
Vietnamese athletics has "disappeared" from the ASIAD 19 athletics map, although at the 18th Asian Games, we won 2 gold medals and 3 bronze medals. Trust was placed on Nguyen Thi Oanh (1,500m, 3,000m hurdles), the women's 4x400m relay team that was recently crowned at the Asian Championship. But the quartet Ngoc - Hanh - Huyen - Hang "missed" the bronze medal in the relay race despite surpassing themselves. This is also the only event where Vietnamese athletics was close to a medal. Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Oanh showed that there is still a long way to go to compete.
The failure of athletics at the 19th Asian Games has shown a serious lack of talent at the continental level. There are many things we must do both in the short term and in the long term if we want to repeat the excellent achievements at the Asian Games.
Another regret in boxing is that high expectations were placed on Ha Thi Linh and Nguyen Thi Tam. However, Nguyen Thi Tam was injured before SEA Games 32, so she could not reach her desired performance.