Fans on the way to Noi Bai international airport to welcome Vietnamese athletes (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – The national flagcarrier Vietnam Airlines arranged an Airbus A321 plane designated to transportthe Vietnamese sports delegation back home from the 2018 Asian Games (ASIAD) inJakarta on September 2.
The aircraft was scheduled to land in the Noi Bai International Airport inHanoi at 12:30.
Earlier in the morning, a ceremony was held at the Soekarno Hatta internationalairport in Jakarta to see off Vietnamese players. Attending the event wereVietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Pham Quang Vinh; Ambassador Tran Duc Binh,head of the Vietnamese Delegation to ASEAN; and representatives from theVietnamese community in Indonesia.
A programme titled “Proud of Vietnam” will beheld by the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) from 5-7pm on the same day at the My Dinhnational stadium to honour outstanding athletes.
The Vietnamese delegation finished 17th in thetally of the ASIAD 2018 with 4 gold, 16 silver and 18 bronze medals.
Vietnam bagged one silvermedal in the women’s sepak takraw on September 1, the last official competitionday of the continental sporting event.
The same day, Vietnammissed the bronze medal in the men’s football after losing to the United ArabEmirates (UAE) 3-4 in a penalty shootout.
The country sent 352 athletes to compete at theevent. Vietnam pocketed four gold medals in pencak silat (men’s tanding 70-75kg and 90-95 kg), women’s long jump and women’s lightweight quadruple scullscategories.
The Asian Games is the world’s second biggestmultiple sports event after the Olympics. This year’s edition, held in Jakartaand Palembang of Indonesia, has drawn 16,000 competitors and officials from 45countries and territories.
At the 2014 ASIAD, Vietnam won one gold, 10silver and 25 bronze medals, ranking 21st in the overall medal tally.-VNA
