Vietnamese athletes bag two more silvers at ASIAD

Vietnam's Vu van Huyen celebrates winning his men's 100m decathlon heat at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on Wednesday - Photo: Reuters

HCMC – Vietnamese athletes brought home two more silvers on the 12th day of competition at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou, China. The track and field team showed their excellent performance when Vu Thi Huong and Truong Thanh Hang qualified for the finals in the women’s 200m and 800m events respectively.

Vietnam’s last hopes for taking a gold medal at the Games failed when karate athlete Vu Thi Nguyet Anh and the women’s sepaktakraw team, who were expected to change the color of the medals for the Vietnamese sport delegation, missed the final games.

Anh, who won the gold medal at the 15th Games in Doha, Qatar four years ago, defeated Jang So Young from South Korea 2-0 in the semifinals of the women’s kumite under 50kg category. However, the Vietnamese athlete was 0-2 beaten by Li Hong from host China in the final game.

Nguyen Hoang Hiep exited from the men’s kumite under 55kg category after losing 0-2 to Hsieh Cheng Kang from Chinese Taipei earlier in the day.

The women’s sepaktakraw team comprising Nguyen Hai Thao, Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy and Luu Thi Thanh failed to defend their champions at the Games in the women’s regu event after losing to archrivals Thailand 1-2 in the finals on Wednesday. Earlier, the Vietnamese team received the bronze in the women’s team event as they suffered a 0-2 loss to Thais in the semifinals.

The Vietnamese were 15-21 defeated by the Thais in the first set but they bounced back to win the Thai players in the second set 21-14. The Thais took the match in a deciding tie-break 15-11, to win 2 sets to 1, taking the gold medal.

Sprinter Vu Thu Huong, who gained the bronze medal in the women’s 100m category on Monday, reached the final round of the women’s 200m category when she finished first in her group of the qualifying round with 24.05 seconds. Takahashi Momoko from Japan also qualified for the final round with 24.13 seconds.

Truong Thanh Hang secured the final’s ticket in the women’s 800m category as she came second in her group of the qualifying round with 2:03.28 minutes while Matsko Margarita from Kazakhstan was clocked in 2:03.28 minutes, also grasping the final’s ticket.

Meanwhile, Vu Van Huyen, another hopeful of Vietnam, had a good debut when he ended five categories of the men’s decathlon event with 4,002 points, currently ranking fourth in the ranking table.

Karpov Dmitriy from Kazakhstan, who held Asian decathlon record, collected 4,245 points followed by Kim Kun Woo from South Korea with 4,021 points and   Alquraya Mohammed Jassim M from Saudi Arabia with the same points as the Vietnamese athlete.

Huyen finished first in the men’s 100m category with 10.76 seconds and second in the men’s 400m category with 48.93 seconds. on Thursday, the athletes will be competing in five remaining categories of the men’s decathlon event.

Nguyen Dinh Cuong exited from the men’s 800m competition after coming last in the qualifying round. Earlier, Cuong also failed to qualify for the final round after crossing last in the men’s 1500m category.  

In archery, Hoang Ngoc Nhat had a 4-2 win over Salem All Ahmed from Qatar before 0-4 loss to Kim Woojin from South Korea in the men’s individual category while his teammate Dao Trong Kien was 1-5 knocked out by Rai Tarundeep from India in the same category.

With two silvers on the 12th day of competition, the Vietnamese sport delegation is still in 26th position in the medal tally with 14 silver and 12 bronze medals.

China is in the lead with 173 golds, 93 silvers and 86 bronzes, followed by South Korea with 71 golds, 59 silvers and 81 bronzes and Japan with 36 golds, 66 silvers and 74 bronzes.

Medals Standings (at 10:00 p.m. Vietnamese time)

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	173	93	86	352
2 South Korea	71	59	81	211
3 Japan	36	66	74	176
4 Iran	16	10	19	45
5 Chinese Taipei	12	12	33	57
6 Thailand	9	7	30	46
7 Hong Kong	8	14	15	37
8 Malaysia	8	14	11	33
9 Kazakhstan	7	14	31	52
10 India	7	13	26	46
26 Vietnam	0	14	12	26

Related Articles

• Prime Minister discusses relations, co-operation with Lao counterpart
• Wrong diagnoses almost kill two in delta hospital
• Nine-year-old Dac Lac boy impresses
• Wozniacki cruises to win at Montreal Cup
• Mothers share sorrow of war

Seminar spotlights ethnic cultural preservation

Preserving unique architectural features and authentic traditional
customs of ethnic minority groups is an effective and necessary move for
conserving and promoting Vietnamese cultural identities.

This
view was shared by cultural researchers and managers at a seminar in
Hanoi on Nov. 24, reviewing the implementation of the national target
programme on preserving traditional villages of ethnic minority groups
over the past ten years.

The programme has been carried out in 20
villages of the ethnic minority groups of S’Tieng, Cham, Bana, K’Ho,
M’nong, Ede, Van Kieu, Kho Mu, Muong, Thai, H’Mong, Lo Lo, Tay, Dzao,
and Khmer, in 20 provinces nationwide.

It has assisted ethnic
minority people in the target localities to protect traditional
architectural features of their communal meeting halls and their homes,
as well as preserving intangible cultural values, including their own
festivals, folk songs and dances, traditional costumes and handicrafts.

Authentic
customs and practices the target ethnic minority groups have tried to
preserve have been collected, performed and introduced to the public
through cultural exchange activities held in the framework of the
programme.

In addition, the programme has facilitated the
effective implementation of the Party and State’s ethnic policies,
especially policies pertaining to poverty reduction, education,
healthcare, family planning and childcare.

Economically, the
ethnic minority beneficiaries have learnt to make profits from their own
cultural and tourism products, farm produce and traditional handicraft
items, to further improve their material life.

The seminar
participants agreed that the preservation of ethnic minority villages
has greatly contributed to raising the awareness of branches, sectors
and even ethnic people on the position and significance of conserving
and promoting the unique values of ethnic cultures.

The work has
also helped create new cultural values, with culture becoming a
spiritual goal and a driving force of ethnic minority people in the
course of boosting their social development.

The preservation of
ethnic minority villages has provided a new model, along with
experiences for the State management agencies to better their
organisation of preservation and promotion of traditional cultures at
the grassroots level to help ethnic minority-inhabited areas develop in a
sustainable manner, seminar participants agreed./.

Related Articles

• ASEAN-OECD forum discusses administrative reform
• Ethnic minorities, poor to receive free legal aid
• Publishing house obtains rights to publish Fidel Castro's memoirs
• Saigon-Hanoi charity caravan heads north
• VN, Chinese localities boost cooperation

French documentary on Vietnam’s history on screen

A documentary on Vietnam’s history is being screened at 55 cinemas in France, according to the French newspaper - Le Monde.

The film, L’Empire du Milieu du Sud (The Empire of Mid-South), is made
at a cost of 3 million EUR by well-known French directors Jacques Perrin
and Eric Deroo. It outlines the situation of a France-dominated
Indochina and Vietnam’s resistance wars for independence.

Le
Monde said the film makers spent more than ten years to research and
collect documents and films not only of France but also of Japan, China,
Australia, the US, Cuba, Russia and Poland for making this film.

Director
Jacques Perrin is known for his recent documentary – Ocean – that was
screened at the first Vietnam International Film Festival last October.

Earlier,
he made a success in co-directing a documentary titled Le Peuple
Migrateur (2001) on bird’s migration that was shot in many countries,
including Vietnam.

The co-author of “L’Empire du Milieu du Sud”,
Eric Deroo is a historical researcher and director who authored numerous
research works on Vietnam and Indochina./.

Related Articles

• Millenium English contest enters finals
• Viet Nam tops travel polls
• Ethnic minorities, poor to receive free legal aid

Old Quarter celebrates culture

Hanoi's Old Quarter is hosting a tea ceremony and an exhibition of
vintage timepieces until Nov. 27, as well as a discussion of traditional
culture in the capital city.

The tea ceremony will take place at
28 Hang Buom Street, while the collection of clocks will be displayed
at Dong Lac Temple, 38 Hang Dao Street.

The Vietnamese often
drink tea, chew betel or smoke a cigarette as a prelude to conversation,
reflecting the folk saying, "A quid of betel starts the ball rolling".

Tea
drinking is an integral part of many Vietnamese cultural rituals, from
holidays to wedding, and it brings friends and family together in
conversation and celebration.

"Brewing Vietnamese tea is a
sophisticated artform which takes a lot of time to master," said
researcher Hoang Anh Suong. "But it can also be enjoyed in a very simple
manner.

Simply boiled green tea leaves can bring people closer in an informal conversation."

At
the tea ceremony, Suong and other researchers will speak about the
history of tea culture, the manner of drinking, and the differences
among Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese tea drinking.

Meanwhile, at Dong Lac Temple, collector Nguyen Trung Dung will display over 50 historic clocks.

Clock-collecting
has been a popular pastime among intellectuals in the capital city
since the 19th century, Dung said, with collectors fascinated by the
different designs and decorations and the way in which the sound of the
ticking clocks reflects the passage of time and the value of every
moment of life.

Finally, the old house at 87 Ma May Street will
host a talk by researchers Giang Quan and Nguyen Vinh Phuc about Hanoi's
culture, helping visitors understand the way Hanoians live and receive
guests. The discussion, held to accord greater respect the value of
Hanoi's traditions, was organised as part of the celebrations of the
Vietnam Heritage Day on Nov. 23./.

Related Articles

• Gold import quotas further eased
• Viet Nam taste first gold
• Nine-year-old Dac Lac boy impresses
• Rival for old ceramics village
• Vietnamese athletes bag two more silvers at ASIAD

Nation claims more silvers at Asian Games

Vietnam earned two more silver medals at the Asian Games on the 12th
day of the competition in Guangzhou, China on Nov. 24.

Defending champion Vu Thi Nguyet Anh failed to keep her karate title in
the women's under-50kg class after losing 0-2 to host rival Li Hong in
the final clash.

Anh met no difficulty on her way to the
final as she dominated three rivals from Iran , Chinese Taipei and the
Republic of Korea . However Anh, who recently recovered from an
injury, was unable to surpass Li.

Valentina Velena of India and Yasina Torrattanawathana of Thailand each walked away with bronze.

Another Vietnamese defending champion lost their crown on Nov. 24 in
the sepak takraw regu final after a 15-21, 21-14, 11-15 defeat to
Thailand , which is known to have the world's strongest competitors.

Sepak takraw was one of Vietnam 's highest hopes for Asian Games
gold, but as with several other sports, they failed to reach their
target.

Before leaving for Guangzhou , the Vietnam
sport delegation set a target of winning four to six titles to put them
within the world's top 20 strongest countries. But now that the Games
are only three days away from over and most of Vietnam 's strongest
athletes have already finished with their competitions, the target seems
far out of reach.

Track and field athletes are currently the country's best hope for top honours.

Southeast Asia's fastest woman, Vu Thi Huong, won a berth in the 200m final with a time of 24.05sec in Nov. 24's semis.

Huong's teammate Truong Thanh Hang will kick off her second final
competition later on the afternoon of Nov. 25 in the women's 800m event.

Hang, who won silver on Nov. 23 in the 1,500m, is
expected to reach even higher in the 800m as she has practised a lot for
this event.

She will face Magarita Matsko of Kazakhstan , Tintu Lukka from India and Bahrain 's Isa Jamal Maryam Yusuf.

On the men's side, iron man Vu Van Huyen on Nov. 24 took part in five
events of the men's decathlon. He earned 4,002 points to rank fourth,
some 243 points less than the leading athlete.

Women's
chess masters are another final hope for Vietnam , as they entered
the semi-final round with eight points after seven matches.

Karate artists will also share the heavy task of seeking gold in the final competition of the Games.

Six fighters are set to compete in the last three days of the event,
including two-time SEA Games champions Bui Thi Trieu in the women's
under-61kg category, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh in the men's 67kg pool and Le
Bich Phuong who won a gold in the women's 55kg class at the Indonesia
Open.

The delegation has won 14 silver, 12 bronze medals and is ranked 26th./.

Related Articles

• Vietnamese athletes bag two more silvers at ASIAD
• ADB to help disease monitoring in three neighboring nations
• HCMC to relay grand sale program to November
• Prime Minister discusses relations, co-operation with Lao counterpart
• Vietnam Air accepts web check-in for int’l flights

Nation claims more silvers

Karate kid: Vu Thi Nguyet Anh grabbed a silver medal in the women's U-50kg division at the Asian Games yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Truong

HA NOI — Viet Nam earned two more silver medals at the Asian Games on the 12th day of the competition in Guangzhou, China yesterday.

Defending champion Vu Thi Nguyet Anh failed to keep her karate title in the women's under-50kg class after losing 0-2 to host rival Li Hong in the final clash.

Anh met no difficulty on her way to the final as she dominated three rivals from Iran, Chinese Taipei and South Korea. However Anh, who recently recovered from an injury, was unable to surpass Li.

Valentina Velena of India and Yasina Torrattanawathana of Thailand each walked away with bronze.

Another Vietnamese defending champion lost their crown yesterday in the sepak takraw regu final after a 15-21, 21-14, 11-15 defeat to Thailand, which is known to have the world's strongest competitors.

Sepak takraw was one of Viet Nam's highest hopes for Asian Games gold, but as with several other sports, they failed to reach their target.

Before leaving for Guangzhou, the Viet Nam sport delegation set a target of winning four to six titles to put them within the world's top 20 strongest countries. But now that the Games are only three days away from over and most of Viet Nam's strongest athletes have already finished with their competitions, the target seems far out of reach.

Track and field athletes are currently the country's best hope for top honours.

Southeast Asia's fastest woman, Vu Thi Huong, won a berth in the 200m final with a time of 24.05sec in yesterday's semis.

Huong's teammate Truong Thanh Hang will kick off her second final competition later this afternoon in the women's 800m event.

Hang, who won silver on Tuesday in the 1,500m, is expected to reach even higher in the 800m as she has practised a lot for this event.

She will face Magarita Matsko of Kazakhstan, Tintu Lukka from India and Bahrain's Isa Jamal Maryam Yusuf.

On the men's side, iron man Vu Van Huyen yesterday took part in five events of the men's decathlon. He earned 4,002 points to rank fourth, some 243 points less than the leading athlete.

Women's chess masters are another final hope for Viet Nam, as they entered the semi-final round with eight points after seven matches.

Karate artists will also share the heavy task of seeking gold in the final competition of the Games.

Six fighters are set to compete in the last three days of the event, including two-time SEA Games champions Bui Thi Trieu in the women's under-61kg category, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh in the men's 67kg pool and Le Bich Phuong who won a gold in the women's 55kg class at the Indonesia Open.

The delegation has won 14 silver, 12 bronze medals and is ranked 26th. — VNS

Related Articles

• Vietnamese athletes bag two more silvers at ASIAD
• ADB to help disease monitoring in three neighboring nations
• HCMC to relay grand sale program to November
• Prime Minister discusses relations, co-operation with Lao counterpart
• PM Dung outlines inflation strategy

Truong Thanh Hang nabs silver in women’s 1500m

Vietnam's Truong Thanh Hang celebrates her second place after the women's 1500m final at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on Tuesday - Photo: Reuters

HCMC – Vietnam’s track and field team continuously showed their remarkable performance at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou, China as Truong Thanh Hang won a silver medal in the women’s 1500 meters category to give Vietnam its first silver medal in the event since Vietnam began participating in Asia’s biggest sporting event in Seoul, South Korea in 1986.

It was also Vietnam’s second medal of the track and field competition of the Asian Games. Earlier, Vu Thi Huong also brought home the bronze medal in the women’s 100m category on Monday.

Hang timed 4:09:58 minutes, 1.28 seconds behind of Jamah Maryam Yusuf Isa from Bahrain, who claimed the gold medal. Gebregeiorges Mimi Belete also from Bahrain won bronze in 4:10.42 minutes.

The Vietnamese team comprising Le Thi Mong Tuyen, Le Ngoc Phuong, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tham and Vu Thi Huong reached finals as they finished second in group 1 of the women’s 4x100m relay with 45.12 seconds. Thai team came first with 44.42 seconds while Indian team were third with 45.44 seconds.  

In sepaktakraw, Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, Nguyen Hai Thao and Luu Thi Thanh of Vietnam secured their second victory in the women’s regu event after beating China 22-20, 21-12 on Tuesday. The Vietnamese players had an 21-19, 23-21 victory over Myanmar on Monday.

Vietnam will face archrivals Thailand, who had two victories over China and Myanmar with the same score of 2-0, for the gold medal today. Vietnam will defend their champions for their win over Thailand at the 2006 Games in Doha, Qatar.

Nguyen van Long secured the final’s ticket in the men’s canoe single 200m category as he finished first in the semifinal round with 43.075 seconds while Nguyen Van Chi and Nguyen Thanh Quang exited from the men’s kayak double 1000m competition after finishing last in the semifinal round.     

Nguyen Thi Huong beat Tinbua Narisara from Thailand 4-2 in the women’s individual of archery event before losing 0-6 to Ki Bobae from Japan on Tuesday while her compatriot Nguyen Tra My was 1-5 defeated by Le Chien Ying from Chinese Taipei in the same event.

In cycling, rider Pham Thi Thuy Lien failed to clinch a medal when she completed the 100-kilometer stage in the women’s individual road race in two hours, 47 minutes and 47.99 seconds, ranking eighth while her compatriot Phan Thi Thuy Trang just came tenth with 2:47:48.36.

Hsiao Mei Yu from Chinese Taipei brought home the gold with 2:47:46.12, Tri Kusuma Santia from Indonesia gained the silver with 2:47:46.52 and Chinese rider Zhao Na clinched the bronze with 2:47:46.63.

Vietnam’s men volleyball players showed their poor performance at ASIAD as they were 1-3 beaten by Turkmenistan in the final game. The Vietnamese players ended their ASIAD campaign at bottom place with all seven losses.

In fencing, Vietnam team failed to reach semifinals of the women’s team epee event when they were 25-45 defeated by hosts China. Earlier, Vietnam earned a 45-38 victory over India in the last 16 round.   

Though Vietnam took one more silver medal in the eleventh competition day but it was not enough to satisfy Vietnam’s desire for their first gold medal at the Games. The Vietnamese sporting delegation aims to win between four and six gold medals and to finish in the top 20 out of the 45 participating countries and territories.

Vietnam dropped to 26th in the ranking table with 12 silvers and 12 bronzes. China still leads with 165 golds, 85 silvers and 79 bronzes, followed by South Korea with 64 golds, 55 silvers and 74 bronzes and Japan with 34 golds, 64 silvers and 68 bronzes.

Medals Standings (at 10:00 p.m. Vietnamese time)

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	165	85	79	329
2 South Korea	64	55	74	193
3 Japan	34	64	68	166
4 Chinese Taipei	12	11	29	52
5 Iran	12	9	15	36
6 Hong Kong	8	14	14	36
7 Kazakhstan	7	14	26	47
8 India	7	12	20	39
9 Thailand	7	7	26	40
10 Malaysia	6	13	8	27
26 Vietnam	0	12	12	24

Related Articles

• Vietnamese athletes bag two more silvers at ASIAD
• NA splits over role of procuracy
• Writers’ temple to display bronze drums
• Shares manage gains in HCM City, lose in Ha Noi
• ASEAN postal officials talk unity