With the Olympic champion absent, does Vietnamese gymnastics have a chance to win more gold medals?

The Vietnamese men's gymnastics team has a chance to win many gold medals at the 33rd SEA Games due to the absence of Filipino star Carlos Yulo.

The Vietnamese gymnastics team has a great chance to win medals at the 33rd SEA Games - Photo: DUC KHUE

Dominating the qualifying rounds

At the 33rd SEA Games, men's gymnastics will only have 6 individual events: pommel horse, rings, vault, horizontal bar, parallel bars, and floor exercise. The team and all-around events have been removed by host country Thailand.

According to regulations, each athlete can register for 3 events in the qualifying rounds, but can only participate in a maximum of 2 events in the finals. This year, the Vietnamese men's gymnastics team is participating in the SEA Games 33 with 4 athletes: Dinh Phuong Thanh, Dang Ngoc Xuan Thien, Nguyen Van Khanh Phong, and Trinh Hai Khang.

Accordingly, Xuan Thien participated in the pommel horse, Khanh Phong in the rings, Hai Khang in floor exercise and vault, and Dinh Phuong Thanh in the parallel bars and horizontal bar.

Dang Ngoc Xuan Thien leads in the qualifying round of the pommel horse event - Photo: DUC KHUE

But at the last minute, Hai Khang was forced to withdraw due to an injury sustained during warm-up. Even so, the entire team can still aim for 4 out of the 6 gold medals this time.

This is because the remaining three athletes performed well in the qualifying rounds, achieving impressive results. They even finished first in all four of their events. Specifically, Xuan Thien, with 14.333 points, finished first in the pommel horse event.

Dinh Phuong Thanh scored 12,800 points on the horizontal bar and 13,767 points on the parallel bars. Khanh Phong achieved 13,800 points in the rings event.

The advantage of Yulo's absence.

Securing the top spot in the qualifying round demonstrates that Vietnamese athletes have an advantage in the race for the gold medal.

Even more significantly, this year, Filipino star Carlos Yulo is absent. He is a former world champion and Olympic gold medalist. Therefore, his absence presents an opportunity for Vietnamese gymnasts to rise to the occasion.

In fact, Xuan Thien is the least worried. In 2025, he won a gold medal at the World Challenge Cup, also in the pommel horse event.

Dinh Phuong Thanh has less to worry about Carlos Yulo at this year's SEA Games - Photo: DUC KHUE

Next, he won a bronze medal at the Asian Championships. This is an event in which he is virtually unrivaled in Southeast Asia. Carlos Yulo, on the other hand, does not specialize in the pommel horse, so Xuan Thien has a very high chance of winning the gold medal.

As for Khanh Phong, he doesn't need to worry too much. Khanh Phong also had a memorable encounter with Yulo at the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi . Although the rings event wasn't Yulo's forte, Khanh Phong landed incorrectly and watched his opponent take the gold medal.

Just one year later, at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, Khanh Phong successfully avenged his previous defeat with an overwhelming victory over Yulo. At this SEA Games, both Xuan Thien and Khanh Phong will compete in the finals on December 11-12, and both promise to bring sweet success to the Vietnamese delegation.

Meanwhile, Dinh Phuong Thanh is probably the happiest person about Yulo's absence. This is because these are two of the strongest events for Filipino athletes.

Phuong Thanh lost to Yulo in the parallel bars at the 32nd SEA Games, despite having defeated him the year before. In the horizontal bar, they drew at the 31st SEA Games, but Phuong Thanh won a year later.

Overall, Yulo is a formidable opponent for Phuong Thanh in his two strongest events. Therefore, at this year's SEA Games, he has a great chance to win both gold medals in these two events.

The challenge will lie in physical fitness, as Phuong Thanh is already 30 years old. Meanwhile, the parallel bars and horizontal bar finals are both taking place on December 12th. Ensuring he has the physical stamina to compete in both events consecutively will be a problem that Phuong Thanh needs to carefully consider.

Back to the topic

DUC KHUE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nha-vo-dich-olympic-vang-mat-the-duc-dung-cu-viet-nam-co-co-hoi-doat-nhieu-hcv-20251211010029448.htm