Taekwondo athlete was devastated when he missed out on the first gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Two Taekwondo athletes were devastated when they missed the opportunity to win the first gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation at the 33rd SEA Games. The controversial result in the final left both of them almost collapsing backstage.

On December 10th at the Fashion Island Arena (Bangkok, Thailand), Vietnamese Taekwondo missed out on the first gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation at the 33rd SEA Games in a morning filled with emotions.

The Vietnamese pair, Nguyen Trong Phuc and Nguyen Thi Kim Ha, almost collapsed as soon as they left the mat after the final match against Singapore.

Just a few minutes ago, they were standing amidst cheers, putting all their strength into what was considered their most complete performance at the 33rd SEA Games.

In the semi-finals, the Vietnamese athletes displayed confident and outstanding performances, surpassing host nation Thailand with 8,700 points, just 0.040 points more than their opponents.

The Vietnamese duo demonstrated perfect coordination and understanding right from their first martial arts movements.

Every step, every turn, every sweep of the hand through the air are so perfectly matched.

That performance not only affirmed its class but also opened up a clear opportunity for Vietnam to step onto the highest podium.

Stepping onto the mat for the men's and women's taekwondo finals against Singapore, Trong Phuc and Kim Ha maintained a stable mindset, continuing to present a clean, solid routine with almost no obvious errors. This led many members of the coaching staff to believe that the gold medal was within their grasp.

However, things didn't go as expected. The Singapore team was penalized twice for errors in their supporting leg during the event, but their final score was still higher than Vietnam's.

The controversial result caused the Vietnamese athletes to burst into tears backstage, still unable to believe that the gold medal, which they thought they had secured, had slipped away so heartbreakingly.

With the current result, Taekwondo has brought the Vietnamese sports delegation a silver medal, which is also the highest achievement so far at the SEA Games 33. An emotional start, leaving both pride and regret on the journey to conquer the regional peak.

Also in the morning, the Vietnamese male Taekwondo athletes entered the performance, adding color to the team's first competition day.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/vdv-taekwondo-that-than-khi-de-hut-mat-tam-hcv-dau-tien-tai-sea-games-33-20251210142601666.htm