SEA Games
Nguyễn Thị Xuân of Việt Nam (above) wrestles Jiah Aurora Pingot of the Philippines in the women's 50kg class of the 32nd SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Xuân won a gold medal on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo
HÀ NỘI — Wrestlers from Việt Nam swept golds in all six categories they took part in on Monday during the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia.
As the hosts limited the number of events that participating countries could register in the regional sport, Việt Nam sent six competitors to the women's 10 freestyle competitions.
All of them successfully topped the podiums, proving Việt Nam the strongest hub in the region.
Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Hạnh won a gold in the women's 62kg, beating Jiah Aurora Pingot of the Philippines.
Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Trang won a round-robin event of the women's 57kg. She needed only 22sec to defeat Sim Keatha of the hosts after overcoming Danielle Sue Ching Lim of Singapore.
Đặng Thị Linh dominated the women's 76kg class, beating rivals from Singapore and Indonesia.
Lại Diệu Thương won in the women's 68kg. She faced no difficulty to wrestle two other rivals in this class.
Trần Ánh Tuyết spent only 20sec on the map to beat Thai Salinee Srisombat. It was her second win in the women's 59kg, giving her the highest points among three wrestlers to take a gold.
Nguyễn Thị Xuân beat three wrestlers in the women's 50kg category to take a gold.
"I am so happy and proud that I have contributed a little to Việt Nam's success," said Xuân.
"After a year, athletes improved a lot. They created more difficulty for me. As defending champion, I was under pressure like many athletes but I had to overcome it to win.
"The coaching board also helped me to find out our rivals' strong and weak points. And then we built a suitable plan for each of them," she said.
The wrestling team earned eight golds after two days. They still have more matches in the men's Greco-Roman on Tuesday.
In the last Games in Hà Nội, the team pocketed 16 out of 17 golds available.
"I am satisfied with the results of the team. Currently, Southeast Asian countries have paid more attention to wrestling. Their athletes were sent to practise abroad. They have gradually created challenges for us," said coach Tạ Đình Đức.
"In this Games, we had suitable tactics with high determination and the good technique of athletes to lead us to victory. This Games will be our preparation for the Asian Games in September in China," he said.
Hoàng Thị Tình celebrates her win in the women's 48kg judo. — VNA/VNS Photo
Judo artists also had a brilliant day with four golds from four finals.
The champions were Olympian Nguyễn Thị Thanh Thủy (women's 52kg), Lê Anh Tài (men's 90kg), Hoàng Thị Tình (women's 48kg) and Nguyễn Nhạc Như An (women's 44kg).
Among them, Tình was a highlight as it was her third gold in the third Games. Her first gold however was in kurash in 2019.
The judo team has won seven golds from both performance and combat events. It was double what they expected.
Sepak takraw team secures gold in the women's doubles event after 20 years of waiting. — VNA/VNS Photo
Sepak takraw team ended their 20-year title drought in the women's doubles event at the National Olympic Stadium.
The team scored six points after four matches to top the ranking, followed by Myanmar and Indonesia.
Nguyễn Thị Hằng Nga (right) competes in the women's 48kg kickboxing. — VNA/VNS Photo
The kickboxing team secured two golds by Lê Thị Nhi in the women's 50kg light contact and Nguyễn Thị Hằng Nga in the women's 48kg full contact.
The athletes did better than expected in other martial arts. Phạm Đăng Quang championed in the men's 63kg taekwondo and Vũ Thị Thanh Bình in the women's full contact live stick lightweight.
Phạm Đăng Quang of Việt Nam (right) in the final of the men's 63kg taekwondo. He won Việt Nam's 120th gold. — VNA/VNS Photo
Quang's medal was the 120th gold of Việt Nam, which helped the delegation to complete their target set prior to their SEA Games campaign.
On the last day of competitions on Tuesday, the golds are expected from table tennis, judo and fencing among others. — VNS
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