HA NOI (VNS)— Viet Nam's Do Thi Thao secured a silver medal yesterday at the Asian Grand Prix Series' third leg in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Thao competed in the women's 800m race, finishing in a time of 2min 6.38sec, closely behind the winner W.K.L.A Nimali, representing the hosts, who finished in 2:05.90.

Third place went to Bazyaruk Liliya of Kazakhstan, who clocked a time of 2:06.68.

It was Nimali's second win following her triumph in the second leg, which took place in Chonburi in Thailand five days ago.

Thao's performance means she has now won silver in all three legs.

She also successfully shortened her time from the first leg by over a second, although she still failed to reach her personal best.

Thao was not the first choice candidate from Viet Nam, as in her category the Asian champion Truong Thanh Hang has dominated local and regional tournaments for years.

However Hang could not participate in the recent championships because of a leg injury from an accident suffered in training last year.

Thao, who competed in taekwondo before moving to athletics, was then chosen as a substitute. She proved her selectors right.

She is also expected to replace Hang in the forthcoming 27th Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar this December. — VNS