While Vietnam's hopes of winning an Asian Games gold medal are slowly diminishing, Vu Thi Huong and Le Ngoc Phuong provided a silver lining by qualifying for the semi-finals of the women's 100m on Nov. 21 in Guangzhou.
The team failed to win any medals on the ninth competition day, which comprised mainly of qualifying rounds.
Huong, who has dominated the Southeast Asian region for several years, had no problems in her heat, finishing first with a time of 11.56sec, the third fastest of the day.
Fukushima Chisato of Japan was the fastest woman with a time of 11.41sec.
Phuong competed in the fourth heat and followed Huong into the next round with a strong finish, clocking 11.85sec.
The semi-finals will be run on Nov.22 afternoon with the two Vietnamese athletes, making their ASIAD debuts this year, providing hope for their managers of bringing home a medal.
Huong, the Asian Games indoor champion, is now one of the favourites for the event. At last December's SEA Games, she set a personal best of 11.34sec.
"I hope Huong will compete to the best of her ability and snatch a medal. Her rivals from Japan, India and especially hosts China are very strong.
"The Chinese athletes are a bit of a mystery because I have found no information about them during the whole year [before the Games]," said coach Nguyen Dinh Minh.
Her strongest rivals will be Chisato with a personal best of 11.21sec and defending champion Guzel Khubbieva of Uzbekistan who ran 11.54 sec on Nov. 21.
At the previous ASIAD in Qatar, Huong finished fourth with a time of 11.59sec.
Vietnam's Truong Thanh Hang, the Asian Track and Field and SEA Games champion, will compete in the women's 800m and 1,500m on Nov. 23.
"It is an impossible task for Hang ¨to win gold. I think the best she can hope for is a top three finish," said coach Ho Thi Tu Tam.
At the same time male runner Nguyen Dinh Cuong will compete in the 800m and 1,500m events.
Cuong is not a favourite this year as he faces tough competition against athletes with faster personal and season's bests.
Vietnamese Track and Field Department managers have decided to award big bonuses for athletes who bring home a medal.
In individual events, a bonus of 50-40-30 million VND will be awarded to gold-silver-bronze medallists while a record bonus of 100 million VND (5,000 USD) will be awarded to winners of a team gold, with 75 million VND and 50 million VND respectively, for silver and bronze medallists.
In other news, Vietnamese boxer Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai started the women's 48-51kg category by beating Macao's Mak Kit I 7-1 on Nov. 21 at the Foshan Gymnasium. Mai is expected to meet Shymmoto Aya of Japan on Nov. 22.
Vietnam's quartet Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Cao Sang and Nguyen Duc Hoa drew 2-2 with Uzbekistan in the fourth round of the men's team chess event while the women lost 1.5-2.5 to India.
With 11 silver and 11 bronze medals, Vietnam have dropped to 22nd place in the medals table.
Five Southeast Asian teams have won gold at this year's Games including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines./.
The team failed to win any medals on the ninth competition day, which comprised mainly of qualifying rounds.
Huong, who has dominated the Southeast Asian region for several years, had no problems in her heat, finishing first with a time of 11.56sec, the third fastest of the day.
Fukushima Chisato of Japan was the fastest woman with a time of 11.41sec.
Phuong competed in the fourth heat and followed Huong into the next round with a strong finish, clocking 11.85sec.
The semi-finals will be run on Nov.22 afternoon with the two Vietnamese athletes, making their ASIAD debuts this year, providing hope for their managers of bringing home a medal.
Huong, the Asian Games indoor champion, is now one of the favourites for the event. At last December's SEA Games, she set a personal best of 11.34sec.
"I hope Huong will compete to the best of her ability and snatch a medal. Her rivals from Japan, India and especially hosts China are very strong.
"The Chinese athletes are a bit of a mystery because I have found no information about them during the whole year [before the Games]," said coach Nguyen Dinh Minh.
Her strongest rivals will be Chisato with a personal best of 11.21sec and defending champion Guzel Khubbieva of Uzbekistan who ran 11.54 sec on Nov. 21.
At the previous ASIAD in Qatar, Huong finished fourth with a time of 11.59sec.
Vietnam's Truong Thanh Hang, the Asian Track and Field and SEA Games champion, will compete in the women's 800m and 1,500m on Nov. 23.
"It is an impossible task for Hang ¨to win gold. I think the best she can hope for is a top three finish," said coach Ho Thi Tu Tam.
At the same time male runner Nguyen Dinh Cuong will compete in the 800m and 1,500m events.
Cuong is not a favourite this year as he faces tough competition against athletes with faster personal and season's bests.
Vietnamese Track and Field Department managers have decided to award big bonuses for athletes who bring home a medal.
In individual events, a bonus of 50-40-30 million VND will be awarded to gold-silver-bronze medallists while a record bonus of 100 million VND (5,000 USD) will be awarded to winners of a team gold, with 75 million VND and 50 million VND respectively, for silver and bronze medallists.
In other news, Vietnamese boxer Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai started the women's 48-51kg category by beating Macao's Mak Kit I 7-1 on Nov. 21 at the Foshan Gymnasium. Mai is expected to meet Shymmoto Aya of Japan on Nov. 22.
Vietnam's quartet Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Cao Sang and Nguyen Duc Hoa drew 2-2 with Uzbekistan in the fourth round of the men's team chess event while the women lost 1.5-2.5 to India.
With 11 silver and 11 bronze medals, Vietnam have dropped to 22nd place in the medals table.
Five Southeast Asian teams have won gold at this year's Games including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines./.
