The 33rd SEA Games officially began after a spectacular opening ceremony at Rajamangala Stadium, with the participating sports delegations entering the first day of competition. The Vietnamese sports delegation competed in 16 sports on December 10th, with many gold medal hopes.
Jujitsu has a great chance of bringing home the first gold medal for the Vietnamese delegation, with 6 finals in the men's 62kg, men's 72kg, women's 52kg, women's 63kg, and mixed doubles (duo show) categories. The greatest hope rests on Dao Hong Son (men's 62kg category), who won two gold medals at the SEA Games 31 and 32 and is currently the world champion.
Taekwondo is also predicted to win a gold medal on the opening day. The traditional Korean martial art will take place from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM with 4 final (demonstration) events. The poomsae (forms) events are a strong point for Vietnam in regional competitions, and Vietnam's hopes for gold medals include Nguyen Thien Phung (a 7-time world champion and 5-time SEA Games gold medalist), Kim Ha, Kim Ngan, and others.
At 9:00 AM, Vietnamese swimmers also competed in swimming events. On the first day of competition, the Vietnamese swimming team competed in the men's 200m individual medley, women's 200m butterfly, men's 100m freestyle, women's 50m breaststroke, men's 100m backstroke, and women's 4x100m freestyle relay.
If they qualify, the Vietnamese athletes will compete in the finals at 6 PM on the same day. Experts believe Tran Hung Nguyen is capable of defending his gold medal in his specialty event, the 200m individual medley. In addition, swimmer Luong Jeremie Loic Nimo, who has both Vietnamese and French heritage, will be a "dark horse" in the men's 100m freestyle.
Also on the opening day, if they perform to their potential, Vietnamese rowers could win gold medals in four events. The pétanque event, with four events starting at 9 am and the finals at 5 pm, is expected to yield gold medals, especially after Vietnamese athletes defeated Thailand, the world champions, in France.
In cycling, cyclist Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang will compete in the women's downhill event at 9:30 AM, hoping to spring a surprise. Similarly, in chess, Vietnam will compete in the Thai chess (Oval) event.
On December 10th, the Vietnamese delegation also competed in the following sports: Men's baseball (qualifying round), 3x3 basketball (qualifying round), boxing (qualifying round), gymnastics (qualifying round), men's and women's handball (qualifying round), sailing (qualifying round), tennis (qualifying round), women's volleyball (group stage, against Myanmar), and MMA (qualifying round).
Source: https://tienphong.vn/sea-games-33-hom-nay-mon-nao-mang-tam-huy-chuong-vang-dau-tien-ve-cho-viet-nam-post1803296.tpo
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