Shooter earns 10th SEA Games gold for Vietnam

Vietnam confirmed its second post at the ongoing 27^th SEA Games Myanmar 2013 as the competition day of December 10 wrapped up, with the 10^th gold medal secured by shooter Nguyen Thanh Dat.

Dat became the first gold medalist for the Vietnam shooting team after scoring 201.3 points at the men’s 50m rifle prone event, surpassing Thai rival Tortungpani (200 points) and Singaporean Lim Wen Abel (180.3 points).

Earlier, the three shooters Nguyen Thanh Dat, Nguyen Duy Hoang, and Phung Le Huyen won silver with 1837.6 points at the men’s team 50m rifle prone event.

By the end of December 11, Vietnam is second only to host Myanmar with 10 golds, 5 silvers, and 7 bronzes. The host secured 18 golds, 8 silvers, and 10 bronzes.

Today, December 12, the event will feature swimming, wrestling, badminton, canoeing, shooting, and petanque competitions.

Swimming

The top regional swimmers will begin competing for medals at Southeast Asia’s largest sporting event today.

The Vietnamese hopeful in today’s event is Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, who will compete in the women’s 200m backstroke, a category for which she holds a Southeast Asian record. She will also be swimming in the women’s 200m individual medley.

Badminton

The quarterfinals will begin at 9:30 and Vietnamese athletes will be playing in all categories.

At the men’s singles event, Vietnam’s top player Nguyen Tien Minh will face Thailand’s Avihingsanon Suppanyu. Minh currently ranks 8^th on the BWF World Rankings, while his rival’s ranking is 46.

In the women’s singles, Vu Thi Trang and Le Thu Huyen will be challenged by Jiayuan Chen of Singapore and top seed Nitchaon Jindapo of Thailand, respectively.

The Bao Minh and Nguyen Khang will play their Malaysian rivals Khim Wah Lim and Yao Han On in the men’s doubles, while in the women’s doubles, Thu Huyen and Pham Nhu Thao will face Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii of Indonesia.

Canoeing

Vietnamese canoers will be competing in six categories: women’s K-1 500m, women’s K-2 500m,  women’s K-4 500m, men’s C-1 500m, men’s C-2 500m, and men’s K-1 500m.

The Vietnam canoeing team expects to take home five medals, with at least one gold.

Petanque

Ho Quoc Huu and Thach Tuan Thanh will be playing in the men’s doubles, while Son Thi Chanh Pha will compete in the women’s singles.

Shooting

The men’s and women’s 50m rifle prone events will start at 9:30am local time. Vietnam will have three shooters competing: Nguyen Thi Phuong, Le Thi Anh Dao, and Nguyen Thi Xuan.

Wrestling

Three Vietnamese hopefuls are expected to snatch gold medals today: Nguyen Huy Ha (men’s freestyle 55kg), Nguyen The Anh (men’s freestyle 60kg), and Bui Tuan An (men’s freestyle 66kg).