Cycling has first gold medal, Vietnam firmly in third place

Cyclist Nguyen Thi That brought home the first gold medal for Vietnamese cycling at the 28th Southeast Asian Games cycling as Vietnam was firmly in third place with 64 gold medals.

That, who also won a silver in the women’s criterium event the previous day, completed the women’s mass start road race in 44:22 minutes to rank first.

The second gold medal of the day was won in archery in the women’s team recurve event. Loc Thi Dao herself won a silver in the women’s individual recurve event.

Archers also won two bronze medals in the women’s individual recurve event through Le Thi Thu Hien and in the mixed team recurve.

In Pencak Silat, martial artist Vo Duy Phuong clinched a bronze in the men’s tanding class B (50-55kg) event.

Petanque also won a bronze in the mixed triples.

In men’s volleyball, Vietnam easily beat Singapore 3-0 to top Group B with three wins out of three matches and advance to the semifinals, where they will meet the runners-up in Group A.

On women’s category, Vietnam will play Singapore in the semifinals. The other semifinal match will be between Thailand and Indonesia.-VNA

Preserving unique craft of making palm-leaf conical hats

Making palm-leaf conical hats is a traditional craft of the Tay ethnic people in Bac Ha district in northern mountainous Lao Cai province. Woven from wild palm leaves, the hats are dried and skilfully crafted into their distinctive conical shape. As well as protecting wearers from sun and rain, the hats are also part of the traditional outfit of local women.