Thailand won its first gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games in an event with only three athletes.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - The first gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games went to host country Thailand in an event with only 3 athletes from 3 sports delegations participating, and all athletes were awarded a podium finish.

In the women's individual creative taekwondo event at the 2025 SEA Games, Thai athlete Watcharakul Limjitrakorn won the first gold medal for the host country, receiving the highest score with a total of 7,900 points.

Thai athlete Watcharakul Limjitrakorn won the first gold medal at the SEA Games in the women's individual creative Taekwondo event (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).

Notably, in this event, there were only 3 participating countries, including Thailand, Singapore and Laos, and the Vietnamese sports delegation did not compete in this event. Therefore, all 3 athletes competing in the above event won medals, respectively, the gold medal belonged to Thailand, the silver medal belonged to Singaporean athletes and the bronze medal belonged to Lao athletes.

"This performance not only helped Watcharakul become the champion in his weight class but also brought home the first gold medal for Thai athletes and the first gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games, creating an exciting atmosphere for Thai sports fans right from the opening day," Siam Sport commented on the "prestigious" gold medal of the host country.

Athletes Nguyen Trong Phuc and Nguyen Thi Kim Ha defeated the Thai couple in the mixed doubles boxing event (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).

Two Vietnamese athletes celebrate when they entered the final match (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).

Notably, this morning (December 10), the pair of athletes Nguyen Trong Phuc and Nguyen Thi Kim Ha defeated the host Thai pair to advance to the final of the Mixed Doubles category. The pair of the Vietnamese Taekwondo team won a total of 8,700 points, while the Thai pair won a total of 8,660 points in the first round.

In the second round, both Vietnam and Thailand had a total score of 8.680, giving the Vietnamese pair the overall victory over the host country's pair. Thus, the Vietnamese Taekwondo team is guaranteed at least one silver medal.

The Vietnamese Taekwondo team still has many more competitions to compete in, with the expectation of winning many gold medals at this year's Southeast Asian Games.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/thai-lan-gianh-hcv-dau-tien-o-sea-games-33-tai-noi-dung-chi-co-3-vdv-20251210113656846.htm