Bronze in wushu puts nation on tally board

November 15, 2010 | 14:26

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Viet Nam added its name to the 16th Asian Games medal tally yesterday when wushu artist Nguyen Manh Quyen won a medal on the second day of competition in Guangzhou, China.

First step: Nguyen Manh Quyen of Viet Nam competes in the men's wushu gunshu at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou in which he won a bronze medal. Macau's Jia Rui won gold followed by South Korean Lee Jonq-chan for silver.

Quyen scored 19.38 points in the daoshu and gunshu events during the all-around competition at the Nansha Gymnasium to claim the bronze, the first medal for the Vietnamese sport delegation which failed to pocket a single medal on the first day of the Games on Saturday despite strong contenders.

"After I came in third place in the daoshu event I was confident that I would be in the top three and I did it," Quyen said.

Jia Rui made history yesterday by winning's Macau's first-ever Asian Games gold medal when he pocketed victory with 19.61 points in the wushu all-around for the former Portuguese colony.

South Korea's Lee Jong-chan took silver with 19.42 points.

Macau has competed in the ASIAD since 1990 but until Jia's breakthrough performance had only ever won five silver and 10 bronze.

The 23-year-old said it was a proud moment for him and his homeland. "The gold medal belongs not only to me, but to Macau," he said.

"It is not easy to win a gold medal. Wushu is a hobby for many people in Macau and this will be a big step for the sport at home."

Jia, who also competed at the last ASIAD in Doha four years ago, said just being here was a dream.

"Doha was my first Asian Games and it was like a dream because as a child, I watched the Asian Games on TV and felt it was far away. Now, I'm living in the athlete village and I am part of the atmosphere."

Lee praised the man from Macau. "The Asian Games are competitive – all my opponents were competitive, but the toughest one to beat was Jia Rui."

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