Vietnam’s wushu female artist Duong Thuy Vi won the sole gold medal for Vietnam at the 17th Asian Games Incheon in South Korea adter 15 days of competition, thus failing to meet its target of winning at least two or three golds.

In addition, the Vietnamese team, consisting of 200 athletes, grabbed 10 silver and 25 bronze medals during the tournament, which kicked off from September 19, leaving them ranked 21st in the overall medal table.

As usual, China, South Korea, and Japan proved they are leading sports powers in Asia after ranking in the top three. China pocketed 149 gold medals, followed by South Korea with 77 gold medals, and Japan with 46 golds.

A failure

This was not the result Vietnam had hoped to achieve at the 2014 Asian Games, particularly in comparison with big medal haul that Vietnam got at Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

In previous SEA Games editions, Vietnam won most medals in non-Olympic sports which are even not popular in the region, namely sepaktakraw, petanque, silat, and diving.

In terms of gold medals at the 2014 Asiad, Vietnam were ranked sixth in ASEAN after Thailand with 11 golds – 7 silvers – 27 bronzes, Malaysia with 5 – 15 – 12, Singapore with 5 – 6 – 11, Indonesia with 4 – 5 – 11, and Myanmar with 2 – 2 – 1.

Wushu saved the face of Vietnam winning the country’s sole gold medal at the 2014 ASIAD though it is not an Olympic sport. In the mean time, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia rose to top in ‘basic’ Olympic sports such as cycling, taekwondo, tennis, swimming, and badminton.

Four years ago, Le Bich Phuong also grabbed an only gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games Guangzhou in China for Vietnam in the women’s 55kg karate event.

The 2014 Asiad Games attracted the participation of around 11,000 athletes from 45 nations and territories to compete in 36 sports.