Vovinam fighter grabs silver at SEA Games 32

Vietnam's Vovinam team has one silver medal at SEA Games 32 (Photo: VNA)

Phnom Penh – Vovinam (Vietnamese traditional martial arts) fighter Huynh Khac Nguyen on May 8 pocketed the silver medal in the men's ying-yang sword form event at the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games hosted in Cambodia.

Nguyen's impressive performance earned him a total of 447 points, falling just short of Aik Soe Lin of Myanmar, who secured the gold medal with 449 points. Phupakorn Wongthanachet of Thailand claimed the bronze with 437 points.

The morning's events also saw several athletes from Vietnam qualify for the finals in athletics, and swimming.

In swimming, Vietnam sent two young athletes, Nguyen Thuy Hien and Pham Thi Van, to the final of the women's 100m freestyle.

Their seniors, Le Thu Thuy and Vo Thi My Tien, qualified for the women's 400m freestyle. Nguyen Quang Thuan and Tran Hung Nguyen will compete in the men's 400m inpidual medley final.

Nguyen Huu Kim Son and defending Nguyen Huy Hoang received byes to compete in the men's 1.500m freestyle in the evening.

In athletics, Ngan Ngoc Nghia will be present in the men's 200m, while newbies Tran Thi Yen Nhi and Kha Thanh Truc will run in the women's 200m.

Also, Vietnam's hope for medals in the triathlon collapsed in the morning.

Both men's and women's representatives, Lam Quang Nhat and Nguyen Thi Kim Cuong, could not finish their race.

Nhat quit when he was in the running stage because of exhaustion, while Cuong was ruled out by an injury during cycling.

After a medical check, boxer Nguyen Thi Tam announced bad news for supporters. She had a torn ligament of the left knee and now faces a long spell out of the ring.

The world silver medalist was expected to win SEA Games gold three times in a row, lost via technical knock-out in her first match against Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand in the women's 54kg after suffering her injury.

The injury might prevent her from participating in the September Asian Games in China and qualifications for the Paris Olympics.

SEA Games 32: Vietnam secures more gold in karate, vovinam events Karate artists have won two more gold medals for Vietnam at the ongoing 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia.