A male table tennis player has won the third gold medal for Vietnam at a Southeast Asian tournament, taking the country’s number of gold medals at the championship to three in total, which is the best in years.
Nguyen Anh Tu, a 23-year-old player from Hanoi, defeated his Singaporean rival Poh Shao Feng Ethan 4-0 to strike gold on Saturday in the men’s singles category at the 10th Southeast Asian table tennis tournament in Indonesia.
Tu was considered the favorite as he had been in form from the beginning of the tourney in Makassar.
Nguyen Anh Tu (third right) poses for a photo with the referees and his teammates after winning a gold medal at the 10th Southeast Asian table tennis tournament in Indonesia. Photo: Tuoi Tre
He dominated the final and routed Ethan 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, and 11-9 to clinch the gold medal.
Tu had won two golds in the men’s singles at Vietnam’s national table tennis championships in 2015 and 2016.
On Thursday, the Vietnamese women’s team beat their Singaporean opponents 3-2 to take the gold medal.
The Vietnamese women displayed an unexpected performance to edge the favorites, Phan Anh Tuan, head of the table tennis division at the Vietnam Sports Administration, said.
The Vietnamese women's team at the 10th Southeast Asian table tennis tournament in Indonesia. Photo: Tuoi Tre
One day earlier, the Vietnamese men’s team also outperformed the Singaporean men’s team in a 3-2 victory to claim the championship title.
These are the best achievements by Vietnamese tennis players at regional competitions in years, table tennis officials said.
The 10th Southeast Asian table tennis tournament, taking place from December 21 to 24, is Vietnam’s last table tennis contest in 2016.
Vietnam sent eight players, four men and four women, to the competition.
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