Karate kid: Nguyen Thanh Duy (right) on his way to a bronze medal on the penultimate day of competition day in Incheon yesterday. Duy took his medal in the men's U60kg karate event. — VNA/VNS Photo Huu Quy

HCM CITY (VNS) — The curtain will fall on the Asian Games (ASIAD) tonight, ending two weeks of competition for Viet Nam's 199 athletes, who have won a total of 36 medals, including victories for the first time in several Olympic sports.

This year, the country brought home three more medals than it won four years ago in Guangzhou.

Of these medals, one was gold, won by Duong Thuy Vi in wushu's jianshu and qiangshu all-round.

The country were unable to achieve its pre-game goal of winning two to three golds.

There were seven fewer silvers than four years ago, but the Vietnamese increased its share of bronze medals from 15 to 25.

Besides medals from sports where the athletes have been historically strong, the Vietnamese won for the first time in a number of events. All the first-time medalists were from Olympic sports.

Talented gymnast Phan Thi Ha Thanh added more value to the medal collection by winning a silver in the women's beam competition and a bronze in the vault event.

Dinh Phuong Thanh and Dang Nam each won a bronze in the men's parallel bars and men's rings, respectively, to make the 17th ASIAD the most successful for Viet Nam's gymnastics.

Swimming was another history-making sport. It opened a new chapter for the country with two bronze medals won by teenager Nguyen Thi Anh Vien. The 17-year-old Can Tho Province native, who also made history at the August Youth Olympics Games with a gold, recorded her best personal time to finish third in both women's 400m individual medley and 200m backstroke pools.

Athletics made a breakthrough with two new silver medallists.

Rising star Quach Thi Lan crossed the finish line in her favourite 400m event at a time of 52.06sec while Bui Thi Thu Thao had her best jump of 6.44m in the women's long jump.

Viet Nam also scored medals in fencing, thanks to Nguyen Tien Nhat, who won bronzes in the men's individual and team epee events.

Weightlifter Thach Kim Tuan left his mark by setting a new record of 134kg in the men's 56kg snatch category, but still missed out on a gold medal with a total lift of 294kg, 2kg away from the gold medallist.

Mixed fortunes

Nguyen Thanh Duy claimed a bronze medal in the karate event yesterday during the penultimate day of the Incheon ASIAD.

Duy beat Assadilov Darkhan of Kazakhstan 7-1 in the men's U60kg third-place playoff.

Earlier, he defeated Jankaew Parnuchit of Thailand 6-4 and Mairul Mohammad of Brunei 5-2, before losing to Almasatfa Hayel of Jordan 2-6.

Other Vietnamese martial artists failed to win medals in the third-place playoff games.

In the women's U61kg, Bui Thi Ngoc Han lost to Yin Xiaoyan of China 5-7. Tran Hoang Yen Phuong was beaten 8-0 by Alagasan Nisha of Malaysia in the women's U55kg category. — VNS