>>> First medal for Vietnam at Tokyo Paralympics as powerlifter Le Van Cong takes silver
Cong secured a silver medal for Vietnam in the men’s 49kg powerlifting after succeeding in all three lifts of 165kg, 170kg, and 173kg.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s Qarada Omar Sami Hamadeh won the gold medal in the category; though his best lift was also 173kg, he managed to lift 170kg right from the first round.
The bronze medal went to Mammdov Parvin of Azerbaijan with the best lift of 156kg.
Prior to the 2020 Games, Cong was the Paralympics champion in the 49kg category with a lift of 183kg - also a Paralympic record. Previously, he set a world record of 183.5kg in this category in 2017.
Vietnamese swimmers Vo Thanh Tung and Trinh Thi Bich Nhu also competed, but failed to progress from the qualifying rounds of the men's 100m freestyle S5 and women’s 200m individual medley SM6, respectively.
With the single silver medal won by Cong, the Vietnamese sports delegation had a successful day and are temporarily ranked 25th on the medal tally.
In ASEAN, Indonesia won a silver in powerlifting, while Thailand won a bronze in wheelchair fencing, ranked 25th and 33rd, respectively.
Day two saw 11 new world records, with eight records broken in swimming finals during the evening session.
After two days of competition, China have taken the lead with eight gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals, followed by the UK with six gold, seven silver and three bronze.
Tomorrow, August 27, swimmer Tung competed in the men's 50m butterfly S5 qualifying at 7:48 am. Chau Hoang Tuyet Loan will compete in the women's 55kg powerlifting final at 2:30 pm (Vietnam time).
