Vietnamese player wins regional table tennis championships
Nguyen Khoa Dieu Khanh topped the Southeast Asian Table Tennis Championships' women's singles event on November 24 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Vietnam failed in teams' categories after both men's and women's squads were eliminated from early rounds. However, they advanced to four other finals.
The Vietnamese champion defeated Malaysian Tee Ai Xin 4-0 to take the gold medal, completing the team's mission assigned prior to the competition.
It was the first time that Khanh took the title, making 2024 her most successful year as she won golds at the National Table Tennis Championship and National Table Tennis Team Championships.
In other categories in Bangkok, her teammate Nguyen Anh Tu secured a silver in the men's singles. The former SEA Games silver medalist regrettably lost 3-4 to Choong Javen of Malaysia in the final.
Mai Hoang My Trang and Nguyen Thi Nga were defeated 3-0 by Karen Lyne and Tee Ai Xin of Malaysia in the women's doubles while Nguyen Duc Tuan and Doan Ba Tuan Anh lost 0-3 to Javen and Wong Qi Shen and Qishen, also from Malaysia in the men's doubles.
Vietnamese athletes also took two bronzes in the men's singles by Tuan and Dinh Anh Hoang.
The regional tournament attracted almost of strongest players from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Vietnamese head coach Doan Kien Quoc praised his players and said Vietnam reached remarkable achievement in developing national table tennis recently. The results of the team in Thailand were appreciated. Khanh's gold medal especially would inspire young players to achieve higher results in the future.
