PetroVietnam win Golden Racket
HA NOI — PetroVietnam managed to bag two gold medals at the Golden Racket International Table Tennis Tournament, which ended in HCM City on Sunday.
The Ha Noi-based team beat South Korea B by 3-1 to win the men's team title at the 4,000-seat Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium.
Playing on a new loan contract, Zhang Kuo put PetroVietnam in the lead with a 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 11-2) win over Seo Young-gyun in the first match before fellow countryman Yang Ce beat Seo Myoung-duck by 3-0 (11-4, 10-12, 11-4, 11-7) in the second match.
In the third match, Lee Chang-joon defeated two-time Olympian Doan Kien Quoc by 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6) while China's Yang Ce overpowered Seong Young-gyun by 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-9) in the fourth match to add another convincing win for PetroVietnam.
Yang Ce triumphed in the men's singles with a 4-2 win over South Korean Kang Dong-hoon on Sunday.
During the women's singles, Lee Hyo-shim beat Kim Ga-young by 4-1 in an all-South Korean women's final while, in the women's team final, Japan beat South Korea A by 3-1 to grab the title.
Viet Nam's rising star Dinh Quang Linh, together with partner Mai Hoang My Trang, clinched the mixed doubles title after crushing Japan's Sawahat Masataka and Tsuchida Mika by 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-6) in the final.
The men's doubles title went to Kang Dong-hoon and Lee Jung-woo, while Nathana Komwong and Anisara Muangsuk from Thailand won the women's doubles.
The annual event, run by the HCM City Table Tennis Federation (HTTF) for the last 24 years, was recognised as an official International Table Tennis Federation event in 2009. — VNS