Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Defending champion Le Van Cong met with no difficulty while taking two gold medals in the men’s U49kg powerlifting event of the ASEAN ParaGames in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, yesterday.
It was his fifth gold in five times of taking part in the regional biennial tournament for people with disabilities.
Cong, the Paralympic winner and world record holder, lifted 181kg, a new Para Games record.
Laos’s representative Pia claimed the silver medal with 130kg. His teammate Simay Eay was third, lifting 114kg.
“It was a little easy for me at this tournament, as there was no rival who could create any threats for me,” Cong, who was Viet Nam’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony on Sunday, told Viet Nam News.
In his first attempt, Cong lifted 175kg, while Pia could lift only 125kg and Eay lifted 112kg.
The Vietnamese easily took 179kg, equalling the old ParaGames record. Pia added 5kg to lift 130kg and Eay took 114kg.
Cong then set a new record of 181kg in his final attempt, while both the Lao athletes failed to increase their score.
“ParaGames cannot be compared with a bigger tournaments such as the Paralympics and world championship. However, winning in any event makes me happy. As an athlete, I have to compete at my best for victory,” said Cong, who will head to the world competition in Mexico next month.
The world reigning champion is a bit worried, as he would arrive in Mexico City just two days before his event. This tight schedule would prevent him from getting acclimatised with the different time zone, which would strongly affect his result.
In the later event of men’s U54kg, his teammate Nguyen Binh An also won and set a new weight record.
An, who made a technical mistake and failed to get a medal last year at Paralympics, made no mistake this time.
His total score of 181kg got him the gold medal and surpassed the previous record of 175kg.
Amorntep Pongsa of Thailand was second with 130kg, and Silverio Soare of East Timor was third, having lifted 100kg.
In athletics, husband and wife duo of Cao Ngoc Hung and Nguyen Thi Hai triumphed at the Bukit Jalil Stadium last afternoon.
Defending champion Hung, the Paralympic bronze medalist, won in the men’s F57 javelin event with a throw of 41.80m.
S Yimbanchang of Thailand ranked second. He was followed by Indonesian Alan Sastra.
His wife Hai, who skipped the Singapore ParaGames two years ago because she was expecting a baby, came back strongly this time.
She made a throw of 26.37m in the discus F56/57 category and topped the podium.
Thai P Chaithongrat was second and Indonesia’s Seriwati was third.
“Hung showed what he did when practising at home, but Hai did a really good job as she exceeded expectations. She was assigned to win a silver but won the gold, ” coach Le Duc Huy told Viet Nam News.
In other events, Trinh Cong Luan came second in the men’s F56 javelin, while Phan Van Dung took a silver in the men’s F44 discus throw.
Vietnamese athletes also secured bronze medals in the men’s T37 100m, women’s T12 and T36 100m, and women’s T44 long jump.
During the morning session, Viet Nam won four golds in the swimming events.
After the first day of competition, Viet Nam were placed third with eight gold and eight silver. Indonesia are on top with 21 titles, followed by Thailand who grabbed eight golds and 13 silvers.
After the first day of competition, Viet Nam stand fourth with eight golds and nine silvers. Indonesia top the tally winning 22 golds. Malaysia are second with 18 and Thailand place third with eight golds and 13 silvers. — VNS