SEA Games

Lê Thị Tuyết of Việt Nam (left) earns a silver in the women's marathon in her SEA Games debut on May 6 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Photos tuoitre.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese athletes grabbed a silver and a bronze on the first day of competition of the 32nd SEA Games, May 6, in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Lê Thị Tuyết finished second in the women's marathon category with a time of 2h 49min. She ranked behind veteran Odekta Elvina Naibaho of Indonesia who is the defending champion.

The third place went to Christine Hallasgo of the Philippines who finished second at the last Games in Việt Nam.

Tuyết showed her disappointment with the result because she was in the lead position after 31km but failed to maintain it until the end. Naibaho, who was neck-to-neck with Tuyết most of the last 10km, sprinted fast in the last kilometres to defend her title.

Despite a second place, Tuyết's achievement was appreciated as it was her first time competing at the regional sports meet which was also her first international competition.

It helped Việt Nam jump higher in the rankings. Last year, her teammate Hoàng Ngọc Hoa took a bronze.

Việt Nam's best women's marathon result was a gold medal by Phạm Thị Bình winning at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar.

On the men's side, Hoàng Nguyên Thanh failed to defend his title after his third-place finish with a time of 2:35.49.

Hoàng Nguyên Thanh comes third in the men's marathon.

Thanh was left behind with a gap of up to 500m with the leading group of three runners after half the race.

His strong effort pushed him to the top three when it was around 10km. The reigning champion tried his best to enter the top three in the last 5km. His effort to catch up with the top two was unsuccessful.

Agus Prayogo of Indonesia, who finished 30sec after Thanh in the Hà Nội Games last May, went back to his familiar top podium. He finished in 2:32.59.

Arlan Estobo Arbois of the Philippines was third at 2:33.27.

Another Vietnamese runner Trịnh Quốc Lượng finished sixth at 2:41.36.

The athletics will continue in the afternoon with four Vietnamese taking part in the walk race. Among them, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Phúc is women's defending champion while Võ Xuân Vĩnh is the reigning champion on the men's side.

Later in the morning, Việt Nam added more silvers in the vovinam by Nguyễn Tứ Cường and the men's team in the performance categories.

Vietnamese vovinam martial artists secure two silvers in the performance categories. VNA/VNS Photo

In the Cambodian traditional chess ouk chaktrang, Nguyễn Quang Trung secured a silver in the men's five-minute rapid event.

In other news, all Vietnamese swimmers secured their berths in the finals this afternoon.

In the men's 100m freestyle, Hoàng Quý Phước and Lương Nino are Việt Nam's representatives.

Trần Hưng Nguyên and teammates all qualified for the finals in their categories.

Nguyễn Quang Thuấn and Trần Hưng Nguyên advanced to the last eight of the men's 200m individual medley.

Nguyễn Thúy Hiền, the youngest member of the team at 14, qualified for the women's 50m breaststroke.

Vietnamese players celebrate their win in the women's 3x3 basketball.

In basketball, Việt Nam won over the Philippines in the first match of the women's 3x3 event. VNS