VietNamNet Bridge – Wrestler Pham Thi Hue won a gold medal yesterday (Dec 10), the ninth for Viet Nam, even though the SEA Games have not officially begun.

Grappling: Wrestler Pham Thi Hue (top) won a gold medal at the SEA Games yesterday after winning all three matches in the women's freestyle 55kg category. — Photo: VNE

Hue won all three matches in the women's freestyle 55kg category, which was organised in a round-robin format.

In her competitions, Hue gave her rivals no chance to score even one point. The Vietnamese won all three matches with a score of 8-0.

"I have been under heavy pressure during the competition in the last match, which decided the final ranking of the category. Among the problems was that the referee seemed to favour my rival from Mynamar," said Hue.

"Only one small mistake would have defeated me. However, I overcame and took the victory," said the former SEA Games champion.

"Hue had a well-planned preparation in both physique and spirit. She worked hard and successfully ‘swallowed' all exercises by foreign experts. It made me believe in her victory, and she did it," said coach Doi Dang Hy.

Earlier, her teammate Pham Thi Loan won a gold medal in the women's 59kg class.

Loan also overcame all rivals from Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar, to bring home the third gold medal for the wrestling squad.

On the men's side, Khong Dang Khoa failed to defend his title in the 74kg pool. Khoa had six points, as many as the gold and silver medallists, after two wins. However, the Vietnamese was ranked third due to new Myanmar rules of counting points.

Wushu gold

Wushu competitor Pham Quoc Khanh won the gold medal in the taolu (performance) of nangun event yesterday, scoring 9.70 points.

Myanmar athlete Soe Kyaw, with 9.69, ranked second, followed by Mun Hua Ho of Malaysia with 9.67 points.

This was Khanh's second medal he has won in Nay Pyi Taw. Earlier, he earned a bronze medal in the nandao event.

"I had torn a stomach muscle before taking part in the SEA Games, which created difficulties during training. Luckily, I managed to win a gold medal during these Games," said Khanh.

"It is one of my most valuable medals in my 20-year career. I am very happy with the success."

This was Khanh's second medal awarded him in Nay Pyi Taw. Earlier, he earned a bronze medal in the nandao event.

"I told him to do as he did at Malaysia's world championships, which was enough to win. Khanh not only did it, he performed even better than I expected," said coach Le Minh Ha.

Khanh's gold medal was the fifth for the wushu team, which set an earlier target of only three gold medals. Last Games, Vietnamese athletes brought home four titles.

The team, ranked second behind the hosts, will return home today and not take part in the SEA Games' opening ceremony tonight, Dec 11.

In other sports news, quartet Nguyen Thi Mai, Nguyen Thi Duyen, Nguyen Thi Le and Kieu Thi Hao took a silver medal in the women's canoeing K4 1,000m event.

Their male teammates, Nguyen Thanh Sang and Luu Thanh Vung, came in third in the C2 1,000m class.

In women's futsal (indoor football), the Vietnamese trounced Myanmar 6-0 in their first match. In the next game tomorrow, they will play Indonesia.

Viet Nam, with nine gold medal, is in second place in the medal tally. Host Myanmar continues to hold the lead with 17 gold medals. Indonesia is in third place with five gold medals.

Minh receives wildcard

The SEA Games badminton draw selected Vietnamese top player Nguyen Tien Minh to start in the quarter-final round at the Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar today.

As the No 1 seed, Minh will play Avihingsanon Suppaya of Thailand, an unseeded player, who unexpectedly defeated Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia in the first round. Chong came into the tournament at No 3 and is ranked No 15 in the world.

Minh, ranked No 8 in the world, is set to play Chong in the quarter-final match.

"In theory, Suppanyu is a weaker rival, compared to Chong. However, I have not met Suppanyu in the past, so I think it will not be easy to defeat him if he maintains his performance against Chong," said Minh, who later added that he was confident he would win.

Minh is expected to take home his first SEA Games gold medal this year.

Viet Nam thrash Laos

Viet Nam's women's football team defeated Laos 11-0 in a friendly match on Monday in Mandalay, Myanmar.

The Vietnamese team pocketed seven goals in the first half, with Minh Nguyet scoring a hat trick and Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Thi Muon and Tuyet Dung each scoring twice. In the second half, substitute player Quynh Nhu shot two goals, while Nguyen Thi Lieu and Nguyen Thi Hoa completed the victory with one goal each.

Viet Nam was scheduled to play Indonesia today in their first match of Group A. However, Indonesia has withdrawn, leaving Viet Nam to play the Philippines on Friday.

The friendly match was considered an activity to keep athletes' morale high before starting their tournament, where they will defend their title.   

Source: VNS