Thanh vaults to gold in Qatar

March 30, 2013 | 09:31

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Gymnast Phan Thi Ha Thanh sealed gold at the FIG Challenge Cup in Doha, Qatar on Thursday, coming out on top for the second successive year.

Repeat performance: Gymnast Phan Thi Ha Thanh competes in the women's vault event af the sixth Doha Art Gymnastics World Cup at the Aspire Academy in the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday. Thanh won a gold at the event. — AFP/VNA Photo

In the women's vault, the Hai Phong City-born girl won a total of 14,825 points to bring home gold, followed by Larisa Andreea Iordache of Romania with 14,675 points.

In the qualifying round on Wednesday, Thanh had ranked just fourth with 14,100 points, but the 22-year-old upped her performance levels to repeat her golden triumph at the same event held in Belgium last year.

In 2011 Thanh became the first gymnast to win a world medal for Viet Nam, winning a bronze medal on the vault at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. This success qualified her as an individual gymnast for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Meanwhile, she dominated the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia, walking away with three gold medals.

Fellow Vietnamese female gymnasts Thu Huyen and Van Anh were eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the balance beam and freestyle gymnastics event.

On the men's side, Hoang Cuong reached the final round of the men's vault and parallel bars.

Earlier this week, top Vietnamese male gymnast Nguyen Ha Thanh also performed outstandingly in the men's parallel bars at the Challenge Cup in Cottbus, Germany to bring home a gold medal.

Thanh was the only Vietnamese representative at this tournament and was competing against some of the world's top athletes.

On March 18, Hanoian Thanh also sealed a silver medal for Viet Nam at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in La Roche-sur-Yon City, France.

VNS

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