Winning 12 more gold, Hanoi continue to widen gap with HCM City

Hanoi have moved 21 gold medals ahead of Ho Chi Minh City on top of the 2018 National Games standings after claiming 12 additional titles on November 29.

Hanoi's table tennis players, Nguyen Anh Tu and Tran Tuan Quynh, celebrate winning the men's doubles title on Nov. 29.
Hanoi's table tennis players, Nguyen Anh Tu and Tran Tuan Quynh, celebrate winning the men's doubles title on Nov. 29.

Hanoi athletes dominated the 800m race, as Tran Van Dang brilliantly surpassed Nam Dinh’s SEA Games champion Duong Van Thai to win the men’s crown with a time of 1:50.22. Khuat Phuong Anh took top honour and broke the National Games record in the women’s event with 2:05.89. Phan Khac Hoang secured the third gold for Hanoi’s athletics team on Thursday by winning the men’s 400m hurdles category.

Sprinter Quach Thi Lan brought home two golds for Thanh Hoa following her triumphs in the women’s 400m hurdles (58.02 seconds) event and the mixed 4x400m relay discipline (3:23.06, new Games and national records).

The traditional martial arts team added two titles to Hanoi’s tally thanks to the brilliance of Nguyen Huu Toan and Le Thi Hong Dao in the men’s 90kg and women’s 60kg combat categories, respectively.

The Golf competition saw Hanoi claim both the men’s and women’s individual crowns which went to Tran Le Duy Nhat and Nguyen Thao My – the best National Games results for Hanoi golfers thus far.

Following two impressive titles in the men’s and women’s team events on November 28, Hanoi’s table tennis players went on to bring home the men’s doubles gold medal, as Nguyen Anh Tu and Tran Tuan Quynh thrashed Hai Duong’s Doan Ba Tuan Anh and Nguyen Duc Tuan 3-1 in the final on Thursday.

Vietnam's no. 1 tennis player Ly Hoang Nam claims all the three gold medals of the men's events at the 2018 National Games.

The tennis competition concluded on November 29, with Ly Hoang Nam (Binh Duong) and Fodor Csilla (Da Nang) affirming their absolute domination in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively. After winning the team and doubles titles earlier, the two stars went on to take top honour in the singles events, with Nam’s 6-3, 6-2 victory over teammate Trinh Linh Giang and Csilla’s 6-3, 7-5 win against teammate Phan Thi Thanh Binh.

At the end of November 29, the Hanoi delegation still stay firmly on top of the provisional medal table with 64 golds, 21 more than Ho Chi Minh City and 49 above the Army team.