SEA Games: Vietnam cap penultimate day with football cherry on top

By Nguyen Quy   December 10, 2019 | 07:41 am PT
SEA Games: Vietnam cap penultimate day with football cherry on top
U22 Vietnamese players lift coach Park Hang-seo up in the air to celebrate Vietnam's first gold medal in SEA Games men's football in the Philippines, December 10, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong.
The first ever men's football SEA Games title took the national gold tally to 97, helping it finish second on the overall table with only one medal event left.

With a total of 285 medals, Vietnam beat neighboring Thailand (92 gold medals) to rank second behind hosts Philippines (149 gold medals) at the 30th SEA Games Tuesday. Vietnam will compete in the beach handball final, the only medal event left, on the closing day Wednesday.

The men’s U22 football team made millions of Vietnamese fans at home proud, beating Indonesia emphatically with a 3-0 score, winning the long-awaited gold medal.

Tuesday proved to be a successful day for Vietnamese wrestlers, as they grabbed seven gold medals.

Nguyen Van Cong and Can Tat Du won gold in the men’s 57kg and 70kg freestyle categories, while Nguyen Huu Dinh and Nguyen Xuan Dinh took the 61kg and 65kg gold medals.

Ha Van Hieu bagged another wrestling gold medal in the men’s 125kg category.

Kieu Thi Ly and Nguyen Thi My Hanh triumphed in the women’s 57kg and 62 kg categories. 

In athletics, Nguyen Thi Oanh won gold in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, breaking the SEA Games record with a time of 10:00.02, nearly a minute faster than silver medalist Joida Gadot Gagnao of the Philippines at 10:59.91.

Do Quoc Luat won the men’s 3,000m steeplechase event in nine minutes and four seconds while Nguyen Thi Huyen bagged another gold in the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 56 seconds 90.

Nguyen Thi Oanh, Quach Thi Lan, Hoang Thi Ngoc and Nguyen Thi Hang won the women’s 4x400m relay in 3:34.64.

Quach Cong Lich, Luong Van Thao, Tran Dinh Son and Tran Nhat Hoang claimed gold in the men’s 4x400 m relay in 3:8.

Pham Thi Hue won a silver in the women’s 5,000m race.

Quach Cong Lich got a silver in the men’s 400m hurdles event while Quach Thi Lan got gold in the women’s 400m hurdles.

Nguyen Trung Cuong won silver in the men’s 3000m steeplechase while Bui Van Su finished second in the men’s 110m hurdles.

On the last day of the competition, Vietnam’s athletics contingent topped the games with a total of 16 gold medals.

In kickboxing, Huynh Van Tuan and Nguyen Xuan Phuong won gold in men’s 51kg and 57 kg categories.

Swimmer Tran Tan Trieu won gold in the men’s 10km race.

Vietnam sent 568 athletes in 43 sports to participate in the biennial event, targeting a haul of 65-70 gold medals.

In the previous edition of SEA Games in 2017, Vietnam had ranked third on the table with 58 golds after Malaysia and Thailand. The Philippines was sixth. 

The SEA Games are being held from November 30 to December 11 with a total of 9,840 athletes from 11 countries taking part in 530 events across 56 sports.

Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, nicknamed Vietnam's "Little Mermaid," will be honored at the closing ceremony of the SEA Games in the Philippines with a special award for her outstanding achievement of winning six gold medals. 

 
 
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