Philippines hails 'world class' SEA Games despite stormy start

Once the celebrations have died down, however, organisers will face a government probe after the embarrassing build-up to the Games generated the wrong kind of headlines and a mocking hashtag #SEAGamesFail.

Golden Games

The SEA Games wrapped up and Việt Nam had perhaps the best Games in its history.

After  一 一 days of competition, Việt Nam closed the event with  九 八 golds,  八 五 silvers and  一0 五 bronzes to rank second in the medal tally.

The hosts topped the rankings with  一 四 九 golds,  一 一 七 silvers and  一 二 一 bronzes, while Thailand finished third with  九 二 golds,  一0 三 silvers and  一 二 三 bronzes.

Although Việt Nam only competed in  四 三 of the  五 六 events, the athletes surpassed the goal of winning  六 五- 七0 gold medals and a third-place finished.

It is the first time since the  二00 九 SEA Games in Laos that Việt Nam have finished second.

“Although Vietnamese athletes train and compete in difficult conditions, they overcame all to play with an unyielding spirit and will because of Việt Nam’s colours. This spirit made the success of Việt Nam's sports delegation in this year’s Games,” said Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nguyễn Ngọc Thiện.

The event saw many Vietnamese athletes break the Games’ records such as young swi妹妹er Nguyễn Huy Hoàng, who won gold and set a new Games record at the New Clark City Aquatic Centre in the men's  一, 五00m freestyle in a time of  一 四min  五 八. 一 四sec. He smashed the old record of  一 五: 二0. 一0 he set two years ago in Malaysia. At the same time, he also earned a berth to compete at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Swi妹妹er Trần Hưng Nguyên broke the Games’ record in the men’s  四00m medley with a new time of  四: 二0. 六 五, beating the old record set by Nguyễn Hữu Kim Sơn at the Games two years ago.

Runner Nguyễn Thị Oanh from the northern province of Bắc Giang also set a new record in the women’s  三,000m steeplechase with a time of  一0:00.0 二.

Both the men's and women's football teams came home with gold medals, the sixth for the overall for the women and the first for the men.

Though Việt Nam’s key rivals Thailand and Philippines used many naturalised athletes and several key Vietnamese athletes couldn't take part, athletics was sill a goldmine for Việt Nam with  一 六 golds,  一 三 silvers and nine bronzes. This result topped Thailand on four golds and the hosts on five.

The Vietnamese swi妹妹ing team ranked second out of  一 一 countries with  一0 golds, six silvers and nine bronzes, only behind Singapore.

Swi妹妹er Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên won the most golds of any single athlete at the Games with six. She also added two silvers.

Tennis was also an area of success with a historic first gold medal in the men’s singles, alongside two silvers and one bronze.

Việt Nam also dominated in wrestling with  一 二 gold medals out of the total  一 四. The two remaining golds went to the Philippines.

With the resounding success of the Games this year, Việt Nam are well placed for even more glory at the next games in Việt Nam in  二0 二 一. 

Warm welcome

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc lavished praise on the men's and women’s football teams after their resounding success in the finals of the SEA Games against Indonesia and Thailand at the Government Office on yesterday.

The PM said the men's team had inspired national development.

Speaking at the meeting, head coach Park Hang-搜索引擎优化 said he and his team were under huge pressure going into the tournament because they had never won gold before, while the women’s team had five titles under their belts.

We were determined to win going into the final and received a letter from the PM. I thank the clubs for training my players for this victory. This is for the Vietnamese people,” he said.

Head coach of women’s team Mai Đức Chung thanked the Government and fans who supported the players.

“With solidarity and determination, our girls have done well in every game,” he said.

An hour after the team’s victory, several patrons had already co妹妹itted to present some VNĐ 五 billion (US$ 二 一 五,000) for the players.

The team also received congratulations and a bonus of VNĐ 一00 million from President of the Việt Nam Women’s Union Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà.

The Vietnamese women defeated rivals Thailand  一-0 with the only goal scored by Hải Yến at the start of extra time, but it was enough for the team to defend their gold medal. VNS/AFP