The country’s top medal prospect in the women’s taekwondo 49 kg category, Tran Thi Ngoc Truc, had scored a 5-0 victory over opponent Theresa Tona of Papua New Guinea in the morning quarterfinals match.
While the match against the inexperienced Tona was a breeze, it was decidedly much more difficult for Truc when facing Puedpong Buttree from Thailand.
Her Thai opponent took the lead in the first set, but Truc evened it at 1-1 in the second go.
The third set was scoreless, but Buttree scored a point in the extra set to dash Truc’s hopes for gold.
In her last chance to vie for a bronze medal, Truc again suffered defeat at thehands of Montejo Daynellis of Cuba.
“What we were most worried about transpired,” said the taekwondo team leader Truong Ngoc De.
“She did her best, but Truc is still inexperienced, especially on a grand stage like the Olympics.
“If Hoang Ha Giang hadn’t fallen sick and been replaced by Truc, she could have secured a win in the quarterfinals,” De added.
In the table tennis event Wednesday, Vietnam’s top player Doan Kien Quoc, ranked 223rd in the world, who had made history by becoming the first Vietnamese table tennis athlete to advance beyond the first round of an Olympic competition, suffered a 4-1 loss to Alexei Smirnov of Russia, ranked 29th in the world.
The loss ended Quoc’s run, but his performance at the 2008 Olympic Games still notched a spot in Vietnamese sports’ history.
Reported by Dang Khoa |
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