Farewell to 'table tennis wonder' Le Van Tiet, who was ranked 6th in the world

The Vietnamese table tennis community has just received sad news: legendary player Le Van Tiet passed away at the age of 86 on the morning of June 2.

Mr. Le Van Tiet next to his memorable collection of titles - Photo: HUY DANG

Those who love table tennis in Vietnam must have heard of the names that have become legends, that is the once glorious generation of gentlemen: Mai Van Hoa, Le Van Tiet, Tran Canh Duoc, Tran Canh Den...

Born in 1939 in Saigon, Mr. Le Van Tiet was once hailed as the best player in the history of Vietnamese table tennis. Along with Mr. Mai Van Hoa, Mr. Tiet is one of two Vietnamese players who have ever made it into the world's top 10, and together they dominated world, continental, and Asian tournaments...

Mr. Mai Van Hoa passed away quite early, in 1971 at the age of 45. Meanwhile, Mr. Le Van Tiet was in very good health and continued to pursue work related to table tennis after his retirement.

Over the years, Mr. Le Van Tiet has spent a lot of time teaching table tennis to children, and at the same time writing books to impart many memorable techniques to the younger generation of plastic ball players.

At the age of around 80, Mr. Tiet sometimes still carries a racket to interact with young athletes who are the same age as his children and grandchildren.

One of the memorable images of Mr. Le Van Tiet - Photo: DOCUMENT

Every sports legend has to fight illness in old age. Le Van Tiet’s family said that at 9:30 am on June 2, the legendary tennis player breathed his last.

The news of Mr. Le Van Tiet's passing has saddened many Vietnamese table tennis fans. It can be said that Mr. Tiet is a rare name in the history of Vietnamese sports that has truly reached world-class status.

A career to remember

Born in Saigon, Mr. Le Van Tiet became known when he won the national table tennis championship during the Republic of Vietnam era at the age of 18.

A year later, he and his teammates Mai Van Hoa, Tran Canh Duoc, and Tran Van Lieu won the gold medal in the men's team event at the 1958 Asian Games. In that year's tournament, he also defeated the reigning world champion Toshiaki Tanaka.

A series of achievements in international tournaments brought Mr. Le Van Tiet to 6th place in the world table tennis rankings in 1959. At the 1959 World Table Tennis Championship, he and his teammates won 3rd place.

After 1975, Mr. Tiet continued to be involved in table tennis when he became the coach of the Tan Binh district table tennis team.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vinh-biet-ky-quan-bong-ban-le-van-tiet-nguoi-tung-hang-6-the-gioi-20250602133113826.htm