Wushu fighters lead gold strike
14:33' 11/12/2007 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – The wushu team dominated the podiums with five gold medals yesterday at the 24th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand.
The flaming toe: Vietnamese wushu artist Nguyen Van Tuan (right) deals a high kick to Thai fighter Saengdaeng Teerapong in the men's 65kg sanshou (combat) final in the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand yesterday. Tuan won the gold.
The flaming toe: Vietnamese wushu artist Nguyen Van Tuan (right) deals a high kick to Thai fighter Saengdaeng Teerapong in the men's 65kg sanshou (combat) final in the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand yesterday. Tuan won the gold.
Vietnam grabbed seven other golds from fencing, weightlifting and gymnastics events.
Thailand out-distance all other rivals in the medal tally. They have grabbed 78 gold, 75 silver and 60 bronze medals. Vietnam are stable in second place with 41 golds, 22 silvers and 46 bronzes. Singapore are in third with 32 gold, 26 silver and 22 bronze medals.
Vu Thuy Linh opened the golden day with a wonderful performance in women's nanquan, which is three events combined. The Vietnamese girl shared her position with Malaysian Bong Siong Lin Diana and the two took 28.12 points after the three events.
It was the first time Linh, 17, has participated in a SEA Games and she successfully followed the triumphs of her mother, former world champion Nguyen Phuong Lan, who is now the national team's coach.
"I am very happy with the gold medal. It (the SEA Games) is an important tournament and I suffered from heavy pressure before performing," said Linh.
"I have trained hard for years and I harvested this victory with help from my teammates, coaches and especially my mother.
"My mother is the most important person who guided me to victory. She first introduced me to the sport and has trained me since I was but an eight-year-old girl.
"As a professional athlete and coach, she told me all her experiences and always encouraged me. She is the origin of my success," Linh said.
The world silver medallist Linh was the second Vietnamese athlete to grab a ticket to perform at the Beijing Olympics next August, where wushu will be a demonstration event.
"Beijing is my next target and I will try my best there."
In wushu's sanshou (combat) event, Nguyen Thi Bich defeated her rival Si Si Sein from Myanmar 2-0 to take a gold medal in the women's 48kg category. Her teammate Nguyen Thuy Ngan won 2-1 over the host's Sopa Malewan in the women's 52kg pool.
The fourth gold went to Phan Anh Yen in the men's 56kg class, who trounced Benje Rivera from the Philippines 2-0.
Nguyen Van Tuan completed the day for the wushu team with a gold in the men's 65kg category. He met with no difficulties and beat Saengdaeng Teerapong of Thailand 2-1 in the final match.
The Vietnamese gymnasts raised their voices yesterday with five gold medals.
Nguyen Minh Tuan won in the men's rings event. Tuan had the most points with 15,150, much higher than the two runners-up. Thailand's Sukdee Thitipong was second with only 14,700 points, while Ooi Wei Siang of Malaysia ranked third with 14,550 points.
Phan Thi Ha Thanh also took a gold in the women's vault event.
Thanh's teammate Do Thi Ngan Thuong, who shocked audiences with her previous competitions in women's all-around and floor, continued her poor performance in this event. She received only 13,175 points, ranking fifth.
But she came back with a victory in women's beam, earning 14,975 points to take home a gold medal.
Nguyen Ha Thanh and Pham Phuoc Hung made it a perfect day for the gymnastics team with two golds in men's parallel bars and horizontal bar respectively.
Vietnam's next gold medal was from Nguyen Thi Thiet in the women's 63kg category. Thiet's total weight in both snatch and jerk and clean was 220kg while her Thai rival Thongsuk Suree lifted only 206kg.
It was the first gold of the weightlifting team, who disappointed fans after hopeful Hoang Anh Tuan, who is the Asian champion, failed to clinch a gold medal in the men's 56kg class.
Vietnam's last gold yesterday was from the women's sabre team.