VietNamNet Bridge – Teenager Nguyen Thi Anh Vien yesterday (Dec 12) won a double victory, with both a title and a record, at the ongoing 27th Southeast (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

Record setter: Swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien of Viet Nam bagged her first gold medal in the women's 200m individual medley event. The teenager won two titles yesterday and set a record at the ongoing SEA Games in Myanmar.

The swimmer set a new record in the women's 200m backstroke event, with a time of 2:14.80, beating the old record of 2:15.73.

Earlier, Vien triumphed in the women's 200m individual medley event with a time of 2:16.20.

She had no difficulty in leaving all other rivals behind after swimming the first metres.

Meanwhile, swimmer Phiangkhwan Pawapotako of Thailand came in second with a time of 2:17.59, followed by Shen Hui Meagan Lim from Singapore who at 2:20.38.

Vien also made national history twice, being the first-ever Vietnamese winning a gold medal at a SEA Games and the first to win two titles in one Game.

The Olympian has completed one-fourth of her plan at the Myanmar tournament.

The Can Tho Province-born athlete is registered to swim in eight events. She is expected to win in two other meets, including her normally strong race, the 400m individual medley.

On the men's side, her teammate, Tran Duy Khoi, won a bronze medal in the 400m individual medley.

Yet, the highlighted team of the day was the wrestling squad, winning all four titles with four representatives entering the final matches.

Bui Tuan Anh won the first gold of the day for Viet Nam in the men's 66kg freestyle.

The defending champion beat Josep Angana of the Philippines 7-0.

His teammate, Nguyen The Anh, followed him to top the podium in the 60kg freestyle. Anh won 11-4 over Iqbal Muhammad Iqbal from Indonesia.

The third victor, Nguyen Huy Ha, also had no difficulty in protecting his ASEAN No 1 position. Ha trounced Indonesian Roni 7-0, for his third SEA Games title in a row.

"I am happy because I can defend my gold medal. This victory is not for myself, but my coaches and experts who have spent time training me and helping me maintain my peak performance today," Ha said.

The only woman on the team was Nguyen Thi Lua.

The Asian Games silver medallist beat a host rival, Myanmar's Kay Thi Khang, in the 51kg freestyle category.

It is the third SEA Games for Viet Nam's top wrestler, but the first time she had a chance to compete. Previously, her category was cancelled because all rivals withdrew when learning that Lua would participate.

"It is my first SEA Games gold in my 10-year career. People often said that I am an unlucky girl at the SEA Games, but now I proved that I am not. I have won these Games," said Lua with a smile.

Badminton bronzes

Two Vietnamese team members, Nguyen Tien Minh and Vu Thi Trang, won bronze medals in badminton after winning their berths in the singles semi-final rounds.

Victory lap: Vietnamese women's futsal players celebrate after winning 3-1 over Indonesia yesterday in Mandalay.

Minh, yesterday, walked over after his Thai rival, Avihingsanon Suppanyu, withdrew because of an injury he received in the second set. Minh was leading 24-22, 10-7.

"The Thai is not an easy rival. He played well in the first set, with powerful smashes. If I was not strong today, I would be the loser," said Minh, the world No 8 and tournament's No 1.

"He had a foot injury near the end of the first set, then he could not play in the second set.

"I have been well prepared for the tournament and am confident of the semi-final match tomorrow," he said.

In the semis, Minh will play world No 22 Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia. In their three meets, Minh was the winner, but said it would be difficult to say anything before the game.

Meanwhile, Trang beat Jiyuan Chen of Singapore 21-19, 18-21, 21-17 in the quarter-final match.

In canoeing news, Nguyen Thanh Quang took a silver in the men's K1 500m. His female teammates, quartet Nguyen Thi Duyen, Kieu Thi Hao, Nguyen Thi Le and Nguyen Thi Mai, received a bronze medal in the K4 500m event.

However, Tran Van Long failed earlier to defend his title in the men's C1 500m event. His poor performance placed him at fifth, out of six athletes.

In cycling, Viet Nam came in third in the team mountain cross country bicycle contest.

In futsal, the Vietnamese women's team scored their second win after beating Indonesia 3-1. Their next games will be tomorrow against Thailand.

After the first official day of competition, Viet Nam has won 16 gold medals, maintaining second place in the ranking table.

The host, Myanmar, remains firmly on top with 20 gold medals, while Indonesia replaced Thailand in the third position with 10 titles.

Volleyball players see huge rewards for winning

The Viet Nam Volleyball Federation has offered a bonus of VND500 million to any Vietnamese team winning a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games this year.

Silver medal winners will receive VND300 million.

SEA Games volleyball competition begins on December 13 and concludes on December 21.

Two year ago, the men's team went home empty-handed, while the women team won a silver medal.

Tien Minh breezes into SEA Games semi-finals

Vietnam badminton phenom Nguyen Tien Minh made it through to the semi-final round of the SEA Games men’s singles after his Thai opponent, Avihingsanon Suppanyu, withdrew in the middle of today’s quarterfinal match.

Tien Minh proved himself as the top seed in the tournament, sneaking past Suppanyu in the first set with a score of 24-22.

While the second set score was 10-7 in Minh’s favour, the Thai shuttler decided to pull out due to an injury, handing Tien Minh a ticket to the semi-finals.

World number eight Tien Minh is expected to make light work of Rumbaka Dionysius Hayom of Indonesia, ranked 22nd in the world, in tomorrow’s semi-final match.

Top female Vietnamese player Vu Thi Trang also surged into the semi-finals today following her 2-1 victory over Singapore’s Chen Jiayuan in their quarter-final matchup.

Source: VNS