Dinh Anh Hoang competes in men's singles, ready to defend SEA Games gold medal

Vietnam table tennis team actively practices to prepare for SEA Games 33

"Today, I had a frank discussion with the leaders of the Department of Physical Training and Sports as well as the coaching staff of the national team. I am very lucky that the coaching staff listened and responded to my wishes so that I can compete at my best at the 33rd SEA Games," athlete Dinh Anh Hoang shared with Dan Tri on the afternoon of December 5.

Previously, as Dan Tri reported, on December 4, athlete Dinh Anh Hoang submitted a petition to the Department of Sports and Physical Training and the coaching staff of the Vietnam national table tennis team about his wish to compete in the men's singles at the 33rd SEA Games taking place in Thailand on December 9.

In the tentative list sent by the coaching board of the Vietnamese table tennis team to the Department of Sports and Physical Training on December 3, Dinh Anh Hoang will not participate in the men's singles event, instead, athletes Nguyen Anh Tu and Nguyen Duc Tuan will participate. The coaching board assigned Hoang Max (commonly known as Dinh Anh Hoang in the table tennis world) to participate in 3 events including men's team, men's doubles and mixed doubles.

In particular, the mixed doubles event is not only the assignment but also the responsibility of Dinh Anh Hoang and Tran Mai Ngoc as both are expected to defend the gold medal in this event they won at the 32nd SEA Games held in Cambodia two years ago.

However, athlete Dinh Anh Hoang felt unhappy with the above assignment as his wish was to participate in the men's singles event because this is his forte and also the event in which he hopes to win a medal at the 33rd SEA Games.

In 2025, Dinh Anh Hoang showed great performance when he won 7 gold medals out of 9 national gold medals in tournaments under the Vietnam Table Tennis Federation system, including 2 gold medals and 1 silver medal in men's singles.

Not being assigned to participate in the men's singles event at the 33rd SEA Games made Dinh Anh Hoang feel shocked and disappointed, he even considered withdrawing from the national team to not participate in the tournament taking place in Thailand.

On December 5, the leaders of the Department of Sports and Physical Training and the coaching staff of the Vietnam table tennis team held a meeting to discuss the wishes of the athlete born in 2001. After many hours of meeting, both sides found a common voice.

Finally, the coaching board agreed to let Dinh Anh Hoang participate in the men's singles event, and will remove him from the men's doubles event. The men's team and mixed doubles events will be the two events that the 2001-born athlete will participate in at the 33rd SEA Games.

Table tennis at the 33rd SEA Games will compete in 7 events including men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, mixed doubles, men's team, and women's team. The Vietnamese table tennis team will participate in all 7 events. At the last 4 SEA Games, from 2017 to 2023, the Vietnamese table tennis team always won gold medals.

The Vietnamese table tennis team is one of the national sports teams that quickly determined the force to participate in the 33rd SEA Games, including 10 athletes: Dinh Anh Hoang, Nguyen Anh Tu, Nguyen Duc Tuan, Doan Ba Tuan Anh, Le Dinh Duc, Nguyen Thi Nga, Bui Ngoc Lan, Nguyen Khoa Dieu Khanh, Tran Mai Ngoc and Mai Hoang My Trang.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/dinh-anh-hoang-thi-dau-noi-dung-don-nam-san-sang-bao-ve-hcv-sea-games-20251205171448751.htm