19-year-old athletics athlete Tran Nhat Hoang won triple gold medals at SEA Games 30; senior table-tennis athlete Doan Kien Quoc was appointed head coach of national team and led his players to win gold in men's doubles at SEA Games 30. They are the excellent athlete and coach who achieved great achievements for Khanh Hoa's sports in the year 2019.
19-year-old athletics athlete Tran Nhat Hoang won triple gold medals at SEA Games 30; senior table-tennis athlete Doan Kien Quoc was appointed head coach of national team and led his players to win gold in men’s doubles at SEA Games 30. They are the excellent athlete and coach who achieved great achievements for Khanh Hoa’s sports in the year 2019.
“Dark horse” wins triple gold medals
Just some months ago, Tran Nhat Hoang was an unfamiliar name in Vietnam’s athletics tournaments. He emerged after edging past senior athlete Tran Dinh Son with just a mere 0.004 seconds to claim the gold medal at the national athletics championship 2019. The unexpected result helped Hoang to be called for the national athletics team to prepare for SEA Games 30 held in Philippines.
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Nhat Hoang was named in the final list for the national team to play at SEA Games. However, that was his first time taking part in this regional tournament; he needed time to gain experience. Therefore, the coaches only expected him to perform as well as he could. Hoang’s determination and the miracle happened in the final of men’s 400m surprised Hoang’s teammates and coaches. He not only once again overcame Tran Dinh Son, who was the hope of Vietnam in that event, but also defeated the athletes from Thailand, Malaysia and the host Philippines to finish first at 46.56, claiming his first SEA Games gold medal. That was also the first time a Vietnamese athlete has won gold in SEA Games men’s 400m. Furthermore, Nhat Hoang and his teammates claimed two other gold medals in men’s 4x400m relay and mixed gender 4x400m relay. “I have been really happy that I won gold medals for the nation,” said Hoang.
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Reportedly, Hoang used to like playing football, especially beach football. However, he was convinced to switch to athletics by the coaches of Khanh Hoa Sports Technique Training Center who watched Hoang run at Phu Dong Festival (a sports contest for high school students in Vietnam). Apart from his own efforts, Hoang’s achievements have been thanks to the encouragement and supports from his mother.
Skilled head coach
Unlike Tran Nhat Hoang, Doan Kien Quoc has been a familiar table tennis athlete not only in Khanh Hoa but also in Vietnam. He has won many prizes at the domestic and international table tennis tournaments. In SEA Games 30, he was appointed to coach the national table tennis team. He led his team to the men’s doubles final where they beat the pair of Singapore 3-1 to claim the gold. That was the first time in the last ten years Vietnam has toppled the dominance of Singapore in the regional table tennis tournaments.
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Quoc said that he had felt a lot of pressure when being appointed as the national coach. It was very difficult to win medal against athletes of Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia which had has strong table tennis development. Moreover, many events which Vietnamese table tennis athletes were good at were excluded in SEA Games 30. That made it more difficult for coach Quoc to fulfill the team’s target.
With his own experience in many years competing at professional tournaments, Quoc applied appropriate strategies and encouraged his players. Finally, his players, Nguyen Anh Tu and Doan Ba Tuan Anh, overcame the opponents who were stronger than them in the final of men’s doubles to clinch the gold medal. Reportedly, ten years ago, Quoc and his teammate Dinh Quang Linh also won gold medal in table tennis men’s doubles when they played for the national team at SEA Games 2009. That was also the first gold of Vietnam in that event. Therefore, the SEA Games 30 gold medal has a special meaning to Quoc. “I could feel the happiness of ten years ago,” Quoc said.
An Nhien
Translated by H.N
