Swimmer Pham Thanh Bao (centre) of Vietnam successfully defends his SEA Games title in the men’s 200m breaststroke, touching home first in the final with a time of 2 minutes 12.81 seconds. (Photo: VNA)  

Vietnam added five gold medals on December 14 but remained in third place on the medal table at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The five golds came from shooting, karate, bowling and swimming. Shooting set the tone for the day, delivering a double gold and breaking two SEA Games records.

The first gold was secured in the women’s 10m air pistol team event, where Trinh Thu Vinh, Nguyen Thuy Trang and Trieu Thi Hoa Hong claimed victory with a score of 1,711 points, well ahead of Thailand (1,702) and Malaysia (1,701). Shortly afterwards, Vinh went on to win the women’s individual 10m air pistol title with 242.7 points, completing a SEA Games gold double.

Vietnam’s women’s karate team of Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly, Hoang Thi My Tam and Nguyen Thi Thu defeated Thailand 2-0 in the final to take gold in the women’s team kumite event.

In bowling, Tran Hoang Khoi defeated his Thai opponent in the men’s singles final to claim gold. Meanwhile, in the pool, swimmer Pham Thanh Bao successfully defended his SEA Games title in the men’s 200m breaststroke, touching home first in the final with a time of 2 minutes 12.81 seconds.

In football, Vietnam’s women’s team cruised past Indonesia with a 5-0 win to book their place in the final, where they will contest the SEA Games 2025 gold medal.

As of 21:30 on December 14, Vietnam had won a total of 35 gold, 32 silver and 63 bronze medals. This haul, however, was not enough to move them back into second place, as Indonesia enjoyed a stronger day with seven additional golds.

Thailand continued to lead the standings with 129 gold, 76 silver and 46 bronze medals, followed by Indonesia with 39 gold, 56 silver and 50 bronze./.