Nguyen Hoang Ngan claimed a silver medal in kata karate at the 17th Asian Games (Asiad) in South Korea on Thursday.

The 29-year-old artist from Hanoi aced her martial performances to defeat several others before advancing to the final round when she lost to Japan’s Shimizu Kiyou.

“I learned a lot from the Japanese artist. Kata is all about performing and its result relies much on the referees’ decision. Anyway, a silver is good for me,” Ngan said after receiving the medal.

“I performed well in the first three rounds but not so good in the final, partly because of pains in my knee,” said the artist who suffered a serious knee injury in 2010.

Ngan’s best Asiad accomplishment was a silver in 2006 in Doha.

Ngan won several gold medals at the World Karate Championships in Egypt in 2006 and Tokyo in 2008, World Games 2009 in Taiwan and the Kobe-Osaka Cup in Bulgaria in 2007.

She also won a silver and bronze at the 24th South East Asia Games.

On Thursday, Vietnam’s contingent also won two bronze medals in Taekwondo with Pham Thi Thu Huyen in women’s 62kg and Ha Thi Nguyen in women’s 67kg.

Vietnam has ranked  21st at Asian Games as of 4pm on Thursday with one gold, ten silvers and 24 bronzes.