SEA Games 33 was held in Thailand, with the participation of more than 10,000 athletes, coaches, officials and delegation staff. The Vietnamese sports delegation comprised 1,165 members (842 athletes, 189 coaches and 19 experts), competing in 47 of 66 sports, with 443 of 573 events. At this SEA Games, An Giang Province contributed 4 coaches, 2 referees and 18 athletes selected to join the national teams to compete in cycling, swimming, Taekwondo, Pencak Silat, Kickboxing, Boxing, athletics, weightlifting, chess and beach volleyball.

After a vibrant and exciting competition period, SEA Games 33 concluded with Viet Nam finishing third overall, winning 87 gold medals, 81 silver medals and 110 bronze medals. Host Thailand topped the medal table with 233 gold medals, while Indonesia ranked second with 91 gold medals. Securing third place overall, despite a thin force and ranking only sixth in terms of athlete numbers—far fewer than Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia—was the result of the athletes’ tireless efforts.

High competitive efficiency helped the Vietnamese delegation remain firmly among the region’s leading teams, demonstrating increasingly improved professional quality and squad depth. Olympic sports continued to play a pivotal role, bringing home 59 gold medals, accounting for nearly 70% of the delegation’s total gold medals. When combined with key sports oriented toward the Asiad, such as Karate and sepak takraw, strategic sports contributed 76.7% of the medals, clearly reflecting Viet Nam’s long-term sports development orientation.

Concluding SEA Games 33, An Giang athletes performed well, winning 1 gold medal, 5 silver medals and 8 bronze medals, contributing to Viet Nam’s third-place overall finish. An Giang athletes made a very favorable start when, on the first official competition day of SEA Games 33, Le Tran Kim Uyen and her teammates on the Vietnamese Taekwondo team excellently won the gold medal in the team creative poomsae event. In addition, Le Tran Kim Uyen also claimed a bronze medal in the women’s team standard poomsae event.

Previously, athlete Nguyen Trong Phuc and teammate Nguyen Thi Kim Ha won a silver medal in the mixed pair standard poomsae event amid controversy, as the Vietnamese Taekwondo coaching staff believed that the Singaporean pair committed more errors but received higher scores. Nguyen Trong Phuc shared: “I feel regretful about missing out on the gold medal, but even so, with the silver medal achieved, I am very happy and proud that the efforts of myself, the team and our teachers have been duly rewarded. I will continue training to improve myself and achieve better results in the future.”

Participating in the SEA Games for the first time, Le Thi Cam Tu demonstrated remarkable progress in professional skills as well as competitive composure. The women’s 200m final at SEA Games 33 witnessed a special moment for Vietnamese athletics, as Cam Tu delivered an explosive performance to win the silver medal and break a national record that had stood for 15 years. With a time of 23.14 seconds, Cam Tu surpassed the national record of 23.27 seconds set by the “icon” Vu Thi Huong in 2010, marking a new milestone for Vietnamese women’s sprinting. She finished just behind Asian champion Veronica Shanti Pereira (Singapore), who won the gold medal with a time of 23.05 seconds, in a race of exceptionally high technical quality.

In addition, Cam Tu and her teammates competed excellently to secure the silver medal in the women’s 4x100m relay, with a time of 43.91 seconds—an intense race decided by fractions of a second. This 4x100m relay was considered one of the most thrilling contests in SEA Games history, as all three medal-winning teams ran under 44 seconds. This further highlighted the outstanding technical quality of the final, where teams pushed performance standards to a new level.

Meanwhile, Bao Khoa, Vo Thanh Ninh and Vu Hoang Gia Bao won the silver medal in the men’s mixed team standard Maruk chess event, the bronze medal in the men’s team Maruk chess event, and the silver medal in the men’s four-player Maruk rapid chess event; Bao Khoa and Vo Thanh Ninh claimed the bronze medal in the men’s pair standard Maruk chess event; Vo Thi Kim Anh won the bronze medal in the women’s 54kg boxing category; Nguyen Thi That earned the bronze medal in the women’s road cycling points race; Nguyen Duc Toan took the bronze medal in the 71kg weightlifting category; Nguyen Minh Triet won the bronze medal in the 65kg Pencak Silat category; and Mai Hong Hanh secured the bronze medal in the women’s 2x2 beach volleyball team event.

Director of the An Giang Provincial Center for Sports Training, Coaching and Competition Dang Anh Kiet said that immediately after SEA Games 33, provincial sports disciplines will conduct professional evaluations and adjust training methods to help athletes achieve better results in the future. In the immediate term, athletes will continue training with the goal of attaining high achievements at competitions within the national competition system in 2026, especially the 10th National Sports Games in 2026./.

Reported by Le Trung Hieu

Translated by Kim Thuan