​18-year-old swimmer stuns Vietnamese fans with first-ever Asian Games silver

Young swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang won a surprising silver medal on Day 6 of the 2018 Asian Games (Asiad) in Indonesia on Friday, setting a new height for Vietnam’s swimming at the top continental sporting event.

The 18-year-old finished second in the men’s 1,500m freestyle with a time of 15:01.63, while the gold medalist Sun Yang from China clocked 14:58.53.

The young swimmer stunned fans at home with his performance, the highest result so far of Vietnam’s swimming at the Asian Games arena.

The silver medalist Hoang has therefore outplayed his senior fellow, female swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, who had two bronzes under her belt from the previous Asian Games editions.

Earlier, Hoang also won a bronze medal in the men’s 800m freestyle.

His two medals contribute greatly to help the Vietnamese swimming team successfully fulfill their assigned task at Asia’s biggest sporting event.

The impressive performance of Hoang at the Games in Indonesia was a big surprise for home supporters, even though he is already famous for championing the men’s 1,500m freestyle discipline at the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Malaysia, when he was only 17 years old.

But the 2018 Asian Games is something his teammate Vien, one of the country’s biggest medal hopefuls, would want to forget, as she upset fans with a disappointing performance. Vien, 22, is scheduled to return to Vietnam empty handed next week.

Day 6 also saw Team Vietnam add another silver medal and two bronzes to its collection.

Rowers Pham Thi Hue, Le Thi Hien, Tran Thi An and Dinh Thi Hao finished second in the women’s four category, clocking 7:14.52, whereas shooter Ngo Huu Vuong won the bronze medal in the men’s 10m running target, and Jujitsu martial artist Duong Thi Thanh Minh finished third in the Newaza women’s 49kg event.

By the end of the fruitful sixth day of competition, Vietnam ranked 16th with one gold, six silvers and 9 bronzes.

On Saturday, Vietnam will compete in athletics, boxing, golf, Jujitsu, karate, Pencak Silat, shooting and volleyball, with sprinter Le Tu Chinh being the biggest medal hopeful in the women’s 100m event.

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