SEA Games 33, first day (December 10): Vietnam delegation wins 24 medals.

VHO - On the first official day of competition at the 33rd SEA Games (December 10, 2025), the Vietnamese Sports Delegation won a total of 24 medals (4 gold, 4 silver, and 16 bronze). Gold medals came from canoeing (women's 500m double sculls), taekwondo (mixed team creative poomsae), swimming (men's 200m individual medley), and petanque (men's individual shooting). Many other sports such as Ju-jitsu, chess, volleyball, 3x3 basketball, etc., also left their mark with medals and encouraging performances.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE VIETNAMESE SPORTS TEAM

FIRST DAY OF COMPETITION AT SEA GAMES 33 (December 10, 2025)

Gold medal (4):

• Canoeing: Diep Thi Huong – Nguyen Thi Huong (women's double sculls 500m).
• Taekwondo: Le Tran Kim Uyen, Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Tran Dang Khoa, Tran Ho Duy, Nguyen Thi Y Binh, Nguyen Phan Khanh Han (mixed team creative poomsae).
• Swimming: Tran Hung Nguyen (200m individual medley men).
• Petanque: Nguyen Van Dung (men's individual shooting).

Silver medal (4):

• Taekwondo: Nguyen Thi Kim Ha – Nguyen Trong Phuc (standard mixed doubles poomsae).
• Ju-jitsu: Phoenix Feather Style (women's 52kg sparring).
• Swimming: Vo Thi My Tien (200m butterfly women).
• Canoeing: Vo Duy Thanh and Do Thi Thanh Thao (500m mixed double sculls)

Bronze medal (16):

• Ju-jitsu (7):
  • Phung Thi Hong Ngoc – Nguyen Ngoc Bich (Female Duo Show).
  • Tran Huu Tuan – To Anh Minh (Male Duo Show).
  • Sai Cong Nguyen – Nguyen Anh Tung (Male Duo Show).
  • Dang Dinh Tung (men's 77kg combat).
  • Dao Hong Son (men's 62kg combat).
  • Ha Thi Anh Uyen (women's 63kg combat)
  • Vu Thi Anh Thu (women's 63kg combat)
• Taekwondo (1): Nguyen Thi Kim Ha – Le Ngoc Han – Le Tran Kim Uyen (women's team standard poomsae).
• Maruk Chess (1): Bao Khoa – Dao Thien Hai – Vo Thanh Ninh – Vu Hoang Gia Bao (blitz chess teammate).
• Canoeing (1): Pham Hong Quan (men's single sculls 500m).
• Swimming (3):
  • Nguyen Quang Thuan (200m individual medley men).
  • Tran Van Nguyen Quoc (100m freestyle men).
  • Nguyen Thuy Hien – Vo Thi My Tien – Nguyen Kha Nhi – Pham Thi Van (4x100m women's freestyle relay).
• Iron balls (3): Thai Thi Hong Thoa; Nguyen Thi Hien; Huynh Cong Tam.

Nguyen Thi Huong and Diep Thi Huong won the gold medal in the women's doubles 500m.

Canoeing and taekwondo kick off the season with gold medals.

At the Rayong Water Sports Festival, athletes Nguyen Thi Huong and Diep Thi Huong brought home the first gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation at the 33rd SEA Games in the women's 500m double canoe event.

The pair finished in 2 minutes 06 seconds 486, far ahead of the Thai boat (2 minutes 09 seconds 783) and the Indonesian boat (2 minutes 16 seconds 417), demonstrating superiority in both strength and coordination.

Immediately after the final, Head of Delegation Nguyen Hong Minh awarded a bonus of 10 million VND to encourage the "two Huongs," recognizing their efforts in winning the first gold medal for Vietnamese sports on the opening day.

In the men's 500m individual event, Pham Hong Quan also contributed a bronze medal, adding to the canoeing team's achievements on the opening day of competition.

On the taekwondo mat, the poomsae (forms) team continued to demonstrate its leading position in the region. The mixed team creative poomsae routine, featuring athletes Le Tran Kim Uyen, Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Tran Dang Khoa, Tran Ho Duy, Nguyen Thi Y Binh, and Nguyen Phan Khanh Han, scored 8,060 points, surpassing Thailand (7,940 points) and the Philippines (7,580 points), thus successfully defending the gold medal they won at the 32nd SEA Games.

Besides the gold medal, taekwondo also contributed one silver medal in the mixed doubles standard poomsae (Nguyen Thi Kim Ha – Nguyen Trong Phuc) and one bronze medal in the women's team standard poomsae.

However, this also sparked considerable controversy when both Vietnam and the Philippines simultaneously filed complaints regarding the refereeing, alleging that the Singaporean pair received "favoritism" despite making mistakes during the competition. The organizers subsequently upheld the original results, causing the event to be temporarily suspended to address the complaints.

Tran Hung Nguyen finished first with a time of 2'02''11 in the 200m individual medley at the 33rd SEA Games.

Swimming makes its mark, veteran steel ball champion wins title for the first time.

The highlight of the evening was the men's 200m individual medley. Swimmer Tran Hung Nguyen displayed great composure, finishing first with a time of 2 minutes 02 seconds 11, 1.77 seconds ahead of the runner-up from the Philippines.

This is the fourth consecutive time Hung Nguyen has won the SEA Games gold medal in this event, and also his ninth gold medal in the history of the regional games – a new milestone for Vietnamese swimming.

Also in the 200m individual medley, Nguyen Quang Thuan won a bronze medal, showing that the next generation is approaching the level of their predecessors. In the men's 100m freestyle, 17-year-old Tran Van Nguyen Quoc won a bronze medal with a time of 50.02 seconds, marking his first SEA Games medal in his career. Prior to that, he and his teammates had all qualified, demonstrating the depth of talent in the speed events.

In the women's 200m butterfly, Vo Thi My Tien finished with a time of 2 minutes 12 seconds 10, winning the silver medal – her first medal in the butterfly event at the SEA Games, after previously winning two silver and three bronze medals in freestyle events. The gold medal in this event went to the host country's athlete Kamonchanok Kwanmuang with a time of 2 minutes 11 seconds 78.

The first day of competition also saw a new SEA Games swimming record when Letitia Sim (Singapore) shattered the women's 50m breaststroke record with 31.03 seconds, 0.19 seconds faster than her own previous record.

This shows that the professional level in the region continues to rise, posing a significant challenge for Vietnamese swimmers in their journey to conquer their strongest events.

Athlete Nguyen Van Dung wins his first SEA Games gold medal.

In the pétanque arena, the beautiful story belongs to 51-year-old pétanque player Nguyen Van Dung. After four previous second-place finishes at the SEA Games, he finally won the gold medal in the men's individual shooting event, bringing home the fourth gold medal for the delegation.

Van Dung shared that he still aims to compete until he is 60 years old, demonstrating his endurance and enduring love for a sport that receives little media attention but demands a high level of concentration and courage.

Joy is accompanied by regrets.

Ju-jitsu was the first medal-winning event for the Vietnamese delegation on December 10th, with a bronze medal in the women's Duo Show performed by the pair Phung Thi Hong Ngoc and Nguyen Ngoc Bich. The team then added more bronze medals in the men's doubles, other men's doubles, and 77kg men's sparring events.

In the women's -52kg category, Dao ethnic fighter Phung Mui Nhinh excelled in the final after defeating her Indonesian opponent 14–8, and was once considered the "golden hope" of Vietnamese Ju-jitsu.

However, against the home fighter Singchalad Nuchanat, she lost 7–12 and only won the silver medal, bursting into tears as she left the mat. That image left many feeling regretful but also showed the desire of young athletes from the highlands to prove themselves.

Vietnamese boxer Dao Hong Son – the reigning world champion in the 56kg category – was forced to compete in the 62kg category because his specialty event was removed from the SEA Games program. The difference in physique put him at a disadvantage against his Thai opponent Mathuphan Naphat, the reigning world champion in this weight class. A defeat in the first match sent Hong Son to the bronze medal bracket, where he defeated teammate Le Kien 4–2 to win a bronze medal for the Vietnamese team.

In team sports, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team got off to an impressive start, winning 3-0 (25-9, 25-10, 25-6) against Myanmar in their opening match, creating a favorable psychological momentum for their journey to defend their title in the regional arena. The men's 3x3 basketball team, after a loss to the Philippines, bounced back with a 21-9 victory over Laos, while the women's team suffered a narrow 16-17 defeat against Thailand.

Conversely, men's baseball ended the SEA Games 33 less than expected, losing to Indonesia 3–19, finishing the tournament with one win and five losses. Gymnastics, while not yet competing for medals, made its mark with Nguyen Van Khanh Phong, Dang Ngoc Xuan Thien, and Dinh Phuong Thanh all leading the qualifying rounds in their strongest events such as rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar, promising to be a "gold mine" in the coming days of competition.

The opening day was marred by organizational mishaps.

Besides the impressive professional performances, the first day of competition at the 33rd SEA Games also revealed many shortcomings in the host country's organization.

The organizers repeatedly made mistakes displaying the wrong national flags, including the 3x3 basketball electronic scoreboard mistakenly using the wrong flag for matches involving Malaysia, Laos, the Philippines, and Vietnam; previously, they also mistakenly displayed the wrong flags for Vietnam and Laos in the women's futsal schedule, as well as displaying the wrong territory and flag during the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, a refereeing controversy in the mixed doubles taekwondo event led the Vietnamese and Philippine teams to file complaints, protesting the scoring method which they considered biased in favor of Singapore.

Another significant event of the first day of competition was Cambodia's decision to withdraw all its athletes from the 33rd SEA Games, despite having just attended the opening ceremony on the evening of December 9th.

The reason given by your side is political tensions and concerns for the safety of athletes, forcing the Organizing Committee to adjust the competition schedule in a number of sports, including swimming, ju-jitsu, taekwondo, and gymnastics.

Concluding the first day of official competition, the Vietnamese sports delegation had a solid start, with gold medals spread across strength, technical, and combat sports.

Despite some regrets and shortcomings in the host country's organization, the determined fighting spirit, the breakthroughs of young talents, and the composure of veterans like Nguyen Van Dung promise to continue in the remaining days of competition at the SEA Games 33.

Current standings

Thailand quickly asserted its dominance as host nation, leading overwhelmingly with 19 gold medals, 13 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals (out of a total of 42 medals). This is a significantly higher number of gold medals than the rest, coming from its strongest disciplines such as ju-jitsu, taekwondo, mountain biking, and several performance events.

Indonesia finished second with 5 gold medals, 9 silver medals, and 7 bronze medals (21 medals in total), demonstrating consistency in combat sports and events where they traditionally excel.

Singapore rose to third place thanks to an impressive performance in the swimming pool, particularly in the 50m and 100m events, with a total of 5 gold, 4 silver, and 5 bronze medals (14 medals in total).

Vietnam ranked fourth, maintaining the same number of gold medals (4) but continued to expand the total number of medals thanks to a series of bronze medals in swimming, Ju-jitsu and pétanque. The current achievement of the delegation is 4 gold medals, 4 silver medals, 16 bronze medals (24 medals). This is still a positive result on the first day of competition, when the leading sports such as gymnastics, fencing and wrestling — which are expected to bring a "rain of gold" — will start competing in the finals from December 11.

In the middle group, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Malaysia have a similar number of gold medals (2 each), while Laos, Brunei, and Timor-Leste have only won bronze medals or some individual events.

Overall, the gap in gold medals between host nation Thailand and the chasing group is quite large, but the rankings are likely to fluctuate significantly from December 11-14, when Vietnam's Olympic sports enter a period of intense medal competition.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/sea-games-33-ngay-dau-tien-1012-doan-viet-nam-gianh-24-huy-chuong-187306.html