Vietnam dominate Asian Aerobic Championships

The hosts which were also a strong force in the world bagged eight golds, four silvers and five bronzes after three days of competitions at the Quan Ngua Sports Palace.

Vietnam had no worthy rivals in the senior group of five, gathering Nguyen Che Thanh, Le Hoang Phong, Tran Ngoc Thuy Vi, Vuong Hoai An and Nguyen Viet Anh. The reigning world champions persuasive judges with their beautiful and syncronised performance to take gold.

The hosts also won in the senior aerobic dance event. Their juniors also showed their potential as they won in the groups of three in the 12-14-year-old and 15-17-year-old and froup of five in the 12-14-year-old categories.

The Republic of Korea (RoK) team came second with seven golds, four silvers and one bronze. Japan placed third with one gold, four silvers and two bronzes.

Vietnam Gymnastics Federation General Secretary Phan Thuy Linh said among 14 participating countries and regions, the RoK and Japan were continental leaders. They were especially strong in categories for juniors and groups.

However, Vietnam showed remarkable progress, jumping from No 5 in Asia to No 3 after taking top position this year.

It was a good sign that scores for Vietnam's performances, even in non-favourite categories, were as good as those from other countries.

Yagi Kitagawa Tammy, Aerobic Gymnastics Technical Committee President of the International Gymnastics Federation, appreciated the hosts' effort in organisation. She said it was Vietnam's positive contribution in developing and popularising aerobics in Asia.

"The tournament successfully comes to the end. I believe that all participants have had great experience in Hanoi. Your city impresses us with people's friendliness and hospitality as well as beautiful landscape and delicious cuisine," she said.

"I hope that Hanoi will be an attractive destination for the Asian major sport events in the future.

After Asian championships, teams will have chance to vie for medals again at the world championship which will be held in September in Italy.