Chess masters bag the last gold medal for Viet Nam on the final day of competition at the fourth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games which ended on Saturday in South Korea. — VNS Photo Quang Thang

HA NOI (VNS)— The Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) came to a close in Incheon, South Korea on Saturday.

After 100 events in nine sports over eight competition days, the first multi-sport event combining the Asian Indoor Games and Asian Martial Arts Games were declared a success in terms of organisation, operation and for fostering friendship among the athletes.

Wei Jizhong,honorary life vice president of the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA), said the fourth AIMAG had been packed with passion and emotion and with the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect.

He thanked the athletes for giving their best performance and for providing entertainment to the spectators in some unfamiliar sports, and thanked the spectators for supporting the Games.

"We are very proud of having our Indoor and Martial Arts Games in the OCA because we want to give as many athletes as possible the opportunity to represent their country in sports that are not part of the Olympic Games and Asian Games and to compete in a multi-sports event alongside athletes from other sports," said Wei.

"We want to embrace all sports and reward the athletes for their dedication." The AIMAG saw Viet Nam grabbing four gold medals in chess and kickboxing events on the last day.

After failure in classic and rapid chess, world champion Grandmaster Le Quang Liem and his teammates successfully defeated China 3-1 in the mixed teams final blitz chess match to earn their first ever title from the Games.

Earlier, Viet Nam had three representatives in various kickboxing finals and all of them won. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai defended her title when defeating Temirbayeva Tamara of Kazakhstan 3-0 in the women's under-56kg catergory. In the last edition four years ago, Mai grabbed the spotlight as she took her gold after only one month of practice.

Her teammate Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung trounced Tajikistan's Kholova Zuhro 3-0 in the women's U52kg pool, while Nguyen Van Su beat Husain Albanay of Kuwait 5-4 after extra time in the men's U74kg class.

Viet Nam won a total of eight gold medals, one less than hoped for, and ranked third on the overall medal tally.

China dominated the festival with 29 golds, and most of their titles came from swimming and dance contests.

Hosts South Korea were second earning 21 gold, 27 silver and 19 bronze medals.

The next Games will be organised in Ashgabat City, Turkmenistan in 2017. — VNS