HA NOI (VNS)— Nguyen Thi That and Tran Thi Phuong Trang added another gold medal to keep An Giang comfortably on top in the National Cycling Championship rankings.

The duo yesterday finished first in the women's doubles 500m sprint event in Vung Tau City.

With five golds, three silvers and two bronzes, An Giang have found no significant competition to halt their dominance.

Despite facing national team regulars Thi Phuong Phi and Nguyen Thuy Dung of Binh Duong in the final, the That/Trang combo drew ahead in the final metres to seize the gold.

Their teammates Nguyen Thi Thi and Cam Tu pocketed the bronze medal.

On the men's side, Tran Van Quyen and Huynh Thanh Tung took the first gold for the Military team after defeating An Giang's Lam Cong Danh and Nguyen Thanh Tam.

Le Ngoc Thanh and Le Nguyet Minh of HCM City came third.

The Binh Duong team later triumphed in the women's team 3km time trial event. Quartet Dung, Phi, Nguyen Phan Ngoc Trang and Nguyen Ngoc Kim Ngan met no difficulty in taking the lead and clocking 4min 14.32sec to take the team's third gold medal, lifting them to second place overall.

Dong Thap came second, behind by 11.20sec, and An Giang finished third.

Le Van Duan, who won the men's individual 4km time trial on Monday, played a key role in HCM City's victory in the men's team category yesterday. Duan, in company with Hung, Tran Thanh Nhanh and Truong Nguyen Thanh Nhan won the crucial race in a time of 4:51.92.

They were followed by Vinh Long and Dong Thap.

It was the third gold for the city team, who stand in third place after three days.

On the final day today, the male cyclists will compete in the 160km road race.

The national championship has lured more than 100 athletes from nine teams competing for 18 sets of medals.

It is Viet Nam's most important cycling tournament of the year and will help cycling federation officials select athletes for the forthcoming Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar this December. — VNS