Vietnam wins first gold medals at 26th SEA Games
Taekwondo performance martial artists Nguyen Dinh Toan and Nguyen Minh Tu won the first gold medal for Vietnam at the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia, and their teammate Duong Thanh Tam bagged another gold in the men’s 74kg category.
Vietnamese athletes triumphed on November 12, the opening day of the taekwondo competition at the 26th Sea Games in Jakarta.
Nguyen Dinh Toan and his female partner Nguyen Minh Tu successfully defeated their rivals to claim a gold medal in the mixed doubles performance event.
In the women’s under 62kg, Nguyen Thanh Thao clinched a silver after trouncing her Thai and Cambodian opponents.
Gold medalist Duong Thanh Tam said he attributes his success to invaluable support from trainers, teammates, family members and fans in Vietnam.
Under the leadership of Coach Le Cong, the Vietnamese taekwondo team is expected to win at least four gold medals in the Games this year.
*** On the same day, Nguyen Thị Mai and Kieu Thị Hao brought home a gold medal for Vietnam in the women's 500m canoeing event.
Nguyen Thi Duyen also pocketed the bronze in the women’s single 500m kayak race.
Earlier on November 11, Tran Van Long, who won two gold medals at the Southeast Asian Canoeing Championships in June 2011, earned a bronze medal in the men’s 1,000-m event.
*** Meanwhile, karatedo martial artist Thach Thi Trang produced a convincing victory over Mardiah Nasution from Indonesia to win the gold on November 12.
Vietnam's karatedo artists are competing in four singles and Kata (performance) and Kumite (combat) events of for both men and women, hoping to take home four gold medals.
*** In the shooting events, Vietnamese marksman Bui Quang Nam won a bronze medal with 559 points in the men’s 25-m standard pistol event.
Vietnam has two representatives in the men’s air rifle event, Pham Ngoc Thanh and Nguyen Duy Hoang, and both have qualified for the final round. They both hope to win gold medals and Thanh currently ranks second, just two points behind Zhang Jin of Singapore.