Defeating the world champion, Nguyen Van Khanh Phong won the gold medal at SEA Games 32

On the afternoon of May 9, Nguyen Van Khanh Phong entered the singles competition in the rings with 6 opponents, of which the most formidable was still the world champion from the Philippines, Carlos Yulo.

At the 31st SEA Games at home, Khanh Phong lost to Carlos Yulo just because of an awkward landing, almost falling to the mat.

Performance by Nguyen Van Khanh Phong

With the thought of having to find a way to overcome Carlos Yulo despite his increasingly stronger opponent, Khanh Phong has been actively practicing for the past year and has the opportunity to reunite with the world champion in his specialty, the rings.

Competing later and having to witness Yulo winning 14,000 points, Khanh Phong felt the pressure and entered the arena with a nervous mood. However, when touching the two hanging rings and performing exactly as he had practiced, the young man from Ho Chi Minh City gradually became more confident, receiving a round of applause with beautiful turns on the rope.

Carlos Yulo is only 0.200 points behind Khanh Phong.

The entire Olympic Hall erupted when Khanh Phong's score was announced as 14.200, 0.200 more than Carlos Yulo's... "Gold", coach Truong Minh Sang shouted from the technical seats and the entire Vietnamese team hugged each other with tears of joy.

Defeating the world champion is not an easy task, especially when Carlos Yulo just won the all-around gold medal and Khanh Phong had to withdraw from the team competition the day before due to a back injury.

Nguyen Van Khanh Phong received the gold medal

Talking about this exciting achievement, Khanh Phong sent his thanks to the team of doctors who took care of him day and night to help him recover from his injury and win the gold medal: "Last year, I lost to Carlos Yulo, so I was determined to compete at this SEA Games. Before entering the competition, I was a bit stressed and worried, but that is the normal mentality of athletes. When entering the competition, I was encouraged by my father, teachers and teammates. When competing, I only face myself, so I try to compete at my best."

Dang Ngoc Xuan Thien won gold medal in the pommel horse event.

The joy of gymnastics on the afternoon of May 9 did not stop there. Before Khanh Phong defeated the world champion, athlete Dang Ngoc Xuan Thien also won a gold medal in the pommel horse event with a score of 13.450 points and then it was Dinh Phuong Thanh's turn to bring home the "final" gold medal in the horizontal bar event and a silver medal in the parallel bars event.

Dinh Phuong Thanh won gold medal in horizontal bar event

According to Ms. Phan Thuy Linh - Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Gymnastics Federation, the 6 athletes in the gold medal winning team represent the legacy of Vietnamese gymnastics between a generation of famous older athletes such as Dinh Phuong Thanh, Le Thanh Tung and a generation of young athletes with good potential to follow in their footsteps such as Nguyen Van Khanh Phong, Dang Ngoc Xuan Thien.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/the-thao/danh-bai-nha-vo-dich-the-gioi-nguyen-van-khanh-phong-gianh-vang-sea-games-32-20230509183225327.htm