Vietnam - 26th SEA Games wraps up with Vietnam third

HCMC - The 26th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Indonesia finished on Tuesday after 11 days of competition with 37 new records broken.

The hosts won 182 golds out of 554, 73 clear of second-placed Thailand and nearly double third-placed Vietnam’s tally of gold medals.

Indonesia also earned 151 silvers and 143 bronzes as it dominated in athletics, roller sport, cycling, wall climbing and some martial arts, while Thailand also secured 109 golds, 100 silvers and 120 bronzes.

Two years ago, Thailand dominated the medals standings in Laos with 86 golds out of a total of 372 - ahead of second-placed Vietnam on 83 and Indonesia on 43.

The Vietnamese sporting delegation ended a successful Games after clinching 96 golds, 92 silvers and 100 bronzes, easily surpassing their original target of 70 golds and a top three finish.

Vietnam was dominant in gymnastic-artistic, shooting, athletics, fin swimming, chess, martial arts events and fencing events.

Malaysia was fourth on 59 golds, 50 silvers and 81 bronzes. Fifth-placed Singapore ended the Games with 42 golds.

The Vietnamese gymnastic-artistic team brought home a huge haul of 11 golds. World bronze medalist Phan Thi Ha Thanh took home three golds and one bronze while Do Thi Ngan Thuong, who will retire after the Games, also clinched two golds and one silver.

Meanwhile, track and field netted nine golds. Wrestling clinched eight golds and shooting gained seven golds, fin swimming, pencak silat, and chess earned six golds each for the Vietnamese sporting delegation.

Swimmer Hoang Quy Phuoc,18, was the most successful athlete as he snatched two golds in the men’s 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly events. Phuoc also broke SEA Games record in the men’s 100m butterfly event; followed by Chau Ba Anh Tu who also earned two golds in the men’s 5000m and 10000m categories in the open water swimming event.

Meanwhile, Vietnam also dominated at the regional competition in chess events as they pocketed six of eight golds at the Games. Grandmaster Le Quang Liem, the world number 27 with an Elo rating of 2,715, secured two golds in the men’s blindfold chess pairings and individual rapid chess events.

Truong Thanh Hang successfully defended her golds in the women’s 800m and 1500m events, while her compatriot Vu Van Huyen also took home his fourth consecutive gold in the men’s decathlon.            

Dao Xuan Cuong won the first ever gold for the Vietnamese delegation in the men’s 400m hurdles and Duong Thi Viet Anh took home the gold in the women’s high jump and the silver in the women’s decathlon.

Hoang Xuan Vinh also contributed two golds and one silver for the Vietnamese shooting team. Vinh won the gold in the men’s 10m air pistol and 25m center fire pistol events and the silver in the men’s 50m free pistol. 

Some national athletes failed to come up with the goods despite being favorites including the nation’s top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh – the world No.8 – who inexplicably lost out to Wong Zi Liang Derek, ranked 42 in the world, of Singapore in the quarter-finals.

Sprinter Vu Thi Huong, who was a dead-on cert to retain her titles in the women’s 100m and 200m events, could only manage two bronzes.

The biggest disappointment for Vietnam, though, was the men’s U-23 football team’s unsuccessful campaign under German coach Falko Goetz.

Despite winning through an easy group with the five minnows of Myanmar, Laos, Philippines, East Timor and Brunei, Goetz’s boys failed to even win a medal.

Losing 2-0 to hosts Indonesia in the semi-final was bad enough but to then be embarrassed 4-1 by Myanmar in the third place game was a disaster.

Indonesia’s 20-year wait for a football gold was shattered as they lost to defending champions Malaysia 4-2 in a penalty shootout. Indonesia last won the SEA Games football trophy in 1991 in Manila, Philippines.

Vietnam was also gold-less in sepak takraw, volleyball and futsal due to strong competition from Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand.

In the end, the Vietnamese men’s futsal team lost 8-3 to Thailand in the final, clinching silver while the Vietnamese women’s futsal team also was defeated by Thai opponents, 4-2, in the final on Tuesday.

The Vietnamese athletes won silver in the women’s volleyball event after losing to Thailand and won one silver and one bronze in the sepak takraw.

The Games drew nearly 10,000 athletes from 11 countries of the Southeast Asian region. It featured 43 sports offering a total of 545 gold medals in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from November 11 to 22.

Notably, Vovinam - the Vietnamese martial art became an official sporting event at the Games - and shorinji kemp, the Japanese martial art, also made its debut. The Vietnamese athletes won five golds in vovinam and four golds in shorinji kempo.

Some 608 Vietnamese athletes competed in 36 sporting events.

The 27th SEA Games is expected to be held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar in 2013.

Vu Duc - The Saigon Times Daily

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