National Games: Anh Vien affirms reign on “blue race” with 10th gold

Vietnam’s no. 1 swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien was dominant on the “blue race” at the ongoing 2018 National Games, sweeping three more titles on December 5 to increase her gold-medal tally to 10, following triumphs in the freestyle distances of 50m, 100m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m as well as the 200m medley and 100m backstroke events.

Swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien has won 10 gold medals for the Army team in the 2018 National Games.
Swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien has won 10 gold medals for the Army team in the 2018 National Games.

Specifically, Anh Vien was crowned the fastest and broke the Games records in the 50m backstroke, 200m freestyle and 400m medley categories with respective times of 29.43 seconds, 2:03.23 and 4:51.56. Her brilliant form helped the Army continue leading the swimming competition with 11 gold medals.

Da Nang’s swimming ace Hoang Quy Phuoc clinched his fourth title in this year’s National Games after finishing supreme and setting a new record in the men’s 200m freestyle discipline with a time of 1:48.57. Da Nang also won a gold medal in the men’s 4x100m freestyle category (3:28.77).

The HCM City athletes secured the remaining two swimming titles presented on Wednesday in the men’s 200m medley and women’s 4x100m freestyle events, with Tran Duy Khoi beating the 200m medley record that he set in 2014 (2:08.58) by 4.99 seconds.

* Chess stars Le Quang Liem and Hoang Thi Bao Tram brought home two additional gold medals for HCM City on Dec 5 following their respective victories in the men’s and women’s individual blitz categories. Liem shared the same 8.5 points as Le Tuan Minh from Binh Duong province but claimed the top honour thanks to his better auxiliaries.

Vietnam's no. 1 chess player Le Quang Liem has been crowned the men's individual blitz gold medalist at the 2018 National Games.

Hanoi players dominated the team blitz competition, with Le Thanh Tu and Nguyen Van Huy winning the mixed doubles discipline, while Tran Minh Thang and Tran Tuan Minh claimed the men’s team title. The women’s team crown went to Nguyen Thi Mai Hung and Vo Thi Kim Phung from the Bac Giang delegation.

* The fencing competition on Dec 5 saw Hanoi sweep both the men’s individual sabre and women’s individual foil titles to top the fencing medal tally with four golds. National team member Vu Thanh Anh beat his Hanoi teammate Nguyen Xuan Loi 15-13 to win the men’s individual sabre event, while Do Thi Van Anh earned the capital team another gold following her 15-7 victory over Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu of the People’s Public Security team in the women’s individual foil final.

* Do The Kien added another gold to Hanoi’s tally after beating teammate Nguyen Anh Tuan 9-7 in the men’s singles Pool 9 Ball title match.

* The four wrestling gold medals on Wednesday were shared by Nguyen Thi Vinh (women’s 69kg freestyle, Thanh Hoa team), Tran Thi Huong (women’s 75kg freestyle, Ha Nam team), Truong Cong Hoa (men’s 54kg freestyle, the Army team), and Phung Khac Huy (men’s 57kg freestyle, the Army team).

* The taekwondo competition witnessed six nail-biting final matches in different weight categories on Dec 5.

Ho Thi Kim Ngan (in red) and Truong Thi Kim Tuyen in the women's 49kg final on Dec 5.

Asian champion Truong Thi Kim Tuyen (Vinh Long) won the women’s 49kg gold medal after overcoming former world junior champion Ho Thi Kim Ngan (An Giang).

Vo Hoang Giao (Binh Phuoc) thrashed three-times SEA Games champion Nguyen Trong Cuong (Thanh Hoa) to be crowned the men’s 87kg champion.

Ha Thi Nguyen and Dinh Quang Duc brought home two additional golds for Hanoi following their respective triumphs in the women’s over 73kg and men’s over 87kg categories.

17-year-old Pham Dang Quang (HCM City) brilliantly trounced experienced Nguyen Kim Long (the Army team) 26-7 to take top honour in the men’s under 58kg division.