HCM CITY – (VNS) There was delight in HCM City yesterday at the 26th Golden Racket International Table Tennis Tournament, as the women's team representing the hosts overcame the tough challenge of South Korea to progress to the finals of the competition for the first time.

The team secured an impressive 3-1 victory, mainly thanks to excellent performances from national players Mai Hoang My Trang and Nguyen Thi Viet Linh.

In the first match, Trang made easy work of defeating Shin A Reum, winning all three sets. Linh helped HCM City to raise the score further by beating Park Cha Ra 3-1 in the second match. The guests pulled back after Yu Yun Mi overcame Nguyen Ngoc Yen Nhi 3-0 in the third match. However their hope for a place in the finals died out when Trang beat Park Cha Ra 3-1 in the fourth match.

Nguyen Trong Truc, general secretary and vice chairman of HCM City Table Tennis Federation, said of the win: "It is a great achievement for the Vietnamese women. For the first time in 26 years we have a team progressing to the finals. There are a lot of strong competitors in the tournament, so we feel very proud to have done it."

In the finals today, the HCM City team will hope to repeat their success against Japan, who beat them 3-0 in the qualification round.

In men's competition, Viet Nam lost to Singapore 1-3 in the semi-finals. – VNS