SEA Games

HÀ NỘI — Wushu artist Dương Thuý Vi, who has the flu, claimed her second title on Monday by winning the women’s qiangshu (performance with spear) event at the ongoing Southeast Asian Games.

Vietnamese Vi finished first with 9.67 points, just 0.01 point ahead of the first runner-up Phoon Eyin of Malaysia. Myanmar’s Sandy Oo came third with 9.65 points.

“I was given some pills and spray for my flu, but I still could not breathe when I stepped on the mat. But I did my best, focusing 100 per cent on each move, which helped me forget how sick I was feeling,” Vi said after the victory ceremony.

This is the first time that 24-year-old Vi has won two gold medals in the SEA Games. Her first gold was won in the jianshu (sword) event on Sunday, which was Việt Nam’s first in Kuala Lumpur.

The next challenge for her is the world championship in November in Bulgaria, and then the Asian Games (ASIAD) 2018 in Indonesia.

“I have been working hard for world-class tournaments. My success at SEA Games will be a strong driving force to achieve good results in the world competition and the ASIAD,” she said.

Minutes after Vi’s victory, Nguyễn Thị Thật rode to the top podium in the women’s 35km criterium cycling tournament. Thật finished with a time of 1hr 12.09min, beating cyclists Som Net Ju Pha of Malaysia and Maneephan Jutatip of Thailand.

Thật’s is the sixth gold for Việt Nam, after two days of SEA Games, being held in Malaysia.

Late on Sunday, the men’s gymnastics team defended their title. The five-member squad scored 319.050 points to win the first position, followed by Malaysia with 305.550 points, and Thailand with 293.200 points.

Việt Nam  temporally rank third in the medal tally with six golds, three silvers and five bronzes.

Malaysia are on top with 20 golds, followed by Singapore with nine.

In other events on Monday morning, Vietnamese swimmers won a berth in the finals.

Iron girl Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên and teammate Lê Thị Mỹ Thảo advanced to the women’s 200m butterfly final. Viên ranked second with a time of 2:15.10, while Thảo was third with 2:15.42. Title favourite Jing Wen Quah of Singapore came first with 2:14.30.

Viên also qualified for the 100m backstroke event after topping the qualifier with 1:03.84. Meanwhile, Vietnamese-American Lê Nguyễn Paul and Trần Duy Khôi earned their slot in the men’s 50m backstroke.

Later, Paul competed the 50m butterfly event and advanced to the final. His 24.21sec score has become the new national record, the previous being 26.61 by Khôi in 2014.

Fifteen-year-old Nguyễn Hữu Kim Sơn also made it to the final in the men’s 400m freestyle. The swimmer was added to the national team at the last minute and this is his first SEA Games.

Swimmer Hoàng Quý Phước’s performance was disappointing as he finished last in the men’s 400m freestyle and 50m butterfly events.

The finals will be held tonight.

In archery, Việt Nam men and women both lost in the bronze-medal matches.

Other events to be held today include women’s gymnastics, fencing, karate, table tennis, petanque and tennis. — VNS