Taste of success: Weightlifter Trịnh Văn Vinh poses with his gold medal at the SEA Games in Malaysia yesterday. — Photo zing.vn

HÀ NỘI  — Vietnamese weightlifter Trịnh Văn Vinh won a gold medal and broke two Southeast Asian (SEA) Games records in the men’s 62kg at the ongoing Games in Malaysia yesterday.

The event was held at Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre Hall 3 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Vietnamese lifted 172kg in the second attempt in clean-and-jerk which is a new SEA Games’ record, beating the old record of 167kg.

A total lift of 307kg also helped Vinh break the Games record of 304kg.

Eko Yuki Irawan of Indonesia came second with a total lift of 306kg, while Myint Kyi of Myanmar stood third at 284kg.

Power: Weightlifter Thạch Kim Tuấn celebrates winning gold medal at the SEA Games yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Quốc Khánh.

Earlier, Vinh’s teammate Thạch Kim Tuấn also brought home a gold medal in the men’s 56kg division.

Tuấn lifted 149kg in clean-and-jerk and 120kg in snatch, winning with a total lift of 269kg, grabbing Việt Nam’s first gold medal of the day.

 “Following the failure at the Brazil Olympics, I decided to train hard. This is not my best result, but I am satisfied with it,” Tuấn said.

Indonesian Surahmat Suwoto Wijoyo pocketed silver (267kg), while bronze went to Witoon Mingmoon of Thailand (259kg).

Tuấn won a silver and two bronze medals at the 2011 World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Malaysia. He also bagged a bronze medal at the world event two years ago and a silver medal at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, in 2014.

Stretch: Nguyễn Tiến Minh won a bronze medal in the men’s singles of badminton event of the SEA Games yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Quốc Khánh.

In badminton, Việt Nam’s top player Nguyễn Tiến Minh couldn’t fulfill his SEA Games gold dream, settling for bronze in the men’s singles.

The 34-year-old HCM City-born Minh lost 11-21, 16-21 to 19-year-old Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, No 1 seed, in the semi-finals.

According to Minh, the event’s organising board let the air-conditioner run too loud, distracting him, and his rival was very strong.

”Following the Games, I will take part in the Việt Nam Open 2017 on September 4-10. After that, I will participate in several events and then will decide to retire or play more,” said Minh.

Minh’s best achievement to date is a bronze medal at the World Badminton Championship in 2013.

In pencak silat, Nguyễn Văn Trí beat Juryll Del Rosario of the Philippines 5-0 to enter the final of men’s 85-90kg pool.

His teammate Ma Văn Đạt lost to a Malaysian rival 0-5 in the semi-final of the men’s 90-95kg to win a bronze medal.

In rhythmic gymnastics mixed apparatus (two ropes and three balls), Việt Nam’ women won a silver with total points of 13.650, behind hosts Malaysia.

Meanwhile, golden medal hope Trương Thị Kim Tuyền was held to only a silver medal in the women’s 46kg taekwondo.

She lost to Julanan Khantikulanon of Thailand 13-18 in the final.

Tuyền, 20, pocketed a silver medal at the Muju WTF World Taekwondo Championships in South Korea two months ago, the first world silver medal in Vietnamese taekwondo history. Khantikulanon, 17, is relatively unknown, with the Games in Kuala Lumpur her first senior event.

“I tried my best but luck didn’t come to me”, said Tuyền, “It is the first time I have met this Thai rival. She is not weak, she was even equal to me”.

“I heard that Tuyền is a very strong rival but I only learned that she won a world medal after the match finished,” said Khantikulanon.

In the men’s 54kg, Võ Quốc Hưng lost to Ramnarong Sawekwiharee of Thailand 4-18 to seize a silver medal. — VNS