Viet Nam’s rowers won the first medal at the 19^th Asian Games (ASIAD 19) in Hangzhou, China on September 24.

Four Vietnamese rowers excellently win a bronze medal at the 19th Asian Games on September 24. Photo: M.M

Quarter Dinh Thi Hao, Ha Thi Vui, Pham Thi Hue and Du Thi Bong finished third to claim a bronze in the women's coxless fours at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre, clocking 6 mins 52.35secs.

Meanwhile, China proved their power to finish first in a time of 6 mins 42.03secs. Japan passed Viet Nam in the last metres for the second position at 6 mins 47.04secs.

Among the 4 female rowers is an athlete from Da Nang - Pham Thi Hue who has repeatedly made the country's sports famous. This is the 4^th ASIAD Hue has participated in.

At the age of 27, she understands it will be difficult to attend the sporting event again.

Hue shared "Although we are very determined, China and Japan are two too strong opponents. We hope this medal will be a motivation for us to compete better in the future. She affirmed that if she is still healthy and her teammates work well together, she will continue to contribute to Viet Nam’s sports industry."

Hue is considered as the ‘oldest sister’ in the team, so she is always respected by other teammates because of her gentleness, compassion and hard work. However, when entering competitions, the Da Nang female rower always fights with a calm and brave spirit. That's why she becomes the inspiration of Viet Nam’s national rowing team.

During her career, Hue pocketed a gold medal and a silver medal at SEA Games 26 in 2011, two silvers at ASIAD in 2013, two golds at SEA Games 28 in 2015, a silver at SEA Games 30 in 2019, and three golds at SEA Games 31. She has twice won tickets to Olympic.

Unfortunately, at SEA Games 32, the organisers did not include Rowing in the competitions, so Hue did not have a chance to win a medal.

At the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, the group of four female rowers brought home the first gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation.

Viet Nam’s rowing achievements in the ASIAD arena are even more precious as this is a very difficult sport to develop. Each ASIAD usually sees the participation of 45-50 countries and territories in Asia, but less than half of them bring rowing teams. Therefore, it is difficult to win a medal at ASIAD in the rowing event, so we can see the great efforts of Vietnamese girls.

Reporting by MOC MIEN - Translating by M.DUNG