From Vietnam:
From the Philippines:Wushu artist Hoa takes home silver in combat
10:30' 25/08/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Wushu artist Luong Thi Hoa took home a silver medal in the women's under 60kg sanshou (combat) category on the last day of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, yesterday, following 17 days of events.
Hoa, who beat Egypt's Mohamed Abdelrazek Walaa 2-1 in the semi-final, could not defeat Iran's Karimi Vardanjani Zahra in the final yesterday.
The medal was not counted in the final tally, as wushu, Vietnam's best event, was still only a demonstration sport at this year's Olympics.
Table tennis player Doan Kien Quoc, 29, who qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games after winning the regional Olympic qualifiers in Singapore earlier this year, ascended to the second round after beating David Zalcherg from Australia, ranked 438th in the world, and French Christophe Legout in the men's singles.
Last Saturday, other wushu artists, including taolu (performance) athlete Nguyen Huy Thanh and Nguyen Thuy Ngan, added two bronzes in the men's jianshu (sword) and qiangshu (spear) combined and the women's sanshou 52kg events, respectively.
The last hope of a medal for Vietnam at Beijing, fell to taekwondo artist Nguyen Van Hung. He was defeated 1-3 by Nigeria's Chika Yagazie Chukwunerije in the first round of the men's over 80kg event last Saturday.
Hung had previously won five gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games and has now taken part in the Olympics twice in a row.
Vietnam completed the Beijing Olympics with a silver medal, won by weightlifter Hoang Anh Tuan in the men's 56kg category.
The results are reminiscent of eight years ago when taekwondo artist Tran Hieu Ngan won the women's 57kg at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Kudos
"I greatly appreciate the fact that Hoang Anh Tuan won the silver weightlifting medal. It's an historical victory for Vietnam at the Olympic Games," said vice chairman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Olympic Committee Hoang Vinh Giang.
"Tuan was heavily invested in and well-prepared for the Olympics.
"I also feel sorry for the taekwondo artists, the medal hope of Vietnam, for not taking home any medals," Giang added.
Vietnamese athletes also worked hard in athletics and table tennis at the Olympics.
Top sprinter Vu Thi Huong, 22, finished eighth in the women's 100m quarter-finals at the Beijing Olympics, clocking 11.70 seconds, not quick enough for a semi-final spot.
Table tennis player Doan Kien Quoc, 29, who qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games after winning the regional Olympic qualifiers in Singapore earlier this year, ascended to the second round after beating David Zalcherg from Australia, ranked 438th in the world, and French Christophe Legout in the men's singles.
Quoc left the Olympics after losing to powerhouse Alexei Smirnov from Russia in the second round.
Vietnam were represented by 21 athletes at this year's Olympics, competing in nine areas: wushu, taekwondo, track and field, weightlifting, shooting, table tennis, swimming, gymnastics and badminton.
From Malaysia:FG has special bonus for wushu bets – not P15M
By GERRY CARPIO
The Philippine Star
BEIJING – First Gentleman Mike Arroyo on Saturday praised the wushu athletes for their heroic effort in winning four medals for country, saying some "special awards" are forthcoming for all four athletes who won one gold, two bronze medals and either a gold or silver in the packed Beijing 2007 wushu competitions at the Olympic Sports Center.
‘I am very proud of what they did," said the First Gentleman, who watched all the Filipinos’ bouts with wushu honorary lifetime president Francis Chan and wushu president Julian Camacho, Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose ‘Peping" Cojuangco, Philippine Sports Commission chairman William "Butch" Ramirez, POC secretary general Steve Hontiveros and other members of the Filipino community.
"They stayed here, they trained here for eight months and now it’s paying off."
The five medalists are Willy Wang who won the gold in the taolu event and Marianne Mariano and Benjie Rivera who took the bronze in the sanshou events and Mary Jane Estimar who is competing for the gold against a Chinese opponent today.
"So I say thanks to wushu officials who did their best in keeping them here in China and I thank also the boys and girls who did very well," he added. "We are very proud of all of them and all our efforts have paid off."
"At least it was so nice to sing our national anthem in the Olympics and this is the very first time it happened so we are very proud of them," he said.
When asked if Wang would be entitled to the P15 million bonus from Malacañang and private sponsors, the First Gentleman would not confirm.
"I’m sure we can find something for them. From Malacañang I don’t know but I’m sure they’ll get some cash rewards," he said.
The P15 million bonus cropped up early in the Olympics when Camacho said Pres. Arroyo had told him the wushu athletes would also be entitled to the P15 million bonus if they won the gold.
Although Camacho told The STAR the President had indeed told her of the bonus, he said he and the players wouldn’t expect that to happen.
"I told our athletes and they are one with us that the main reason we are here is to give honor and pride to our country and financial rewards are beside the question," he said.
The Beijing 2008 wushu has gathered 128 athletes from 43 countries whose entries qualified from last year’s world wushu championships.
The wushu tournament is being run concurrently with the Olympics in a bid to get the game considered for eventual Olympic inclusion.
Wushu debuted as a demonstration sport in the 1936 Berlin Games.
Wushu exponents wrap up campaign with creditable show
MALAYSIA wrapped up their campaign in the Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008 with two silvers and a bronze in the taolu (barehands and weapons) categories at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium yesterday.
Chai Fong Ying handed Malaysia the first silver in the women’s taijiquan and taijijian combined events in the morning before Lim Yew Fai grabbed the second in the men’s jiangshu (sword) and qiangshu (spear) combined events in the evening.
The 22-year-old Fong Ying, who is also the Doha Asian Games gold medallist, was trailing Japan’s Miyaoka Ai in third spot by a marginal difference of 0.2 after the taijiquan discipline on Friday. But she put up a better performance in the taijijian (taijisword) discipline to earn 9.70 for a combined total of 19.34 points. She received the silver medal from action movie star Jet Li.
Miyaoka, who earned 9.64 in taijijian, took the bronze with a 19.30 total while China’s Cui Wenjuan secured the gold on 19.69.
Yew Fai, meanwhile, finished just 0.1 point ahead of Vietnam’s Nguyen Huy Thanh with his total of 19.32. Chai Fong Wei delivered a bronze in the women’s gunshu and daoshu combined events with 19.16 for Malaysia’s fifth medal of the world meet, held concurrently with the Beijing Olympics.
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