Vietnam tops medal table at ASEAN University Games

Host Vietnam ranked first at the 13th ASEAN University Games, the biggest sports tournament for students in members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), after gaining 74 gold, 52 silver and 37 bronze medals.

At the weeklong tournament concluding in Hanoi on Friday, defending champion Thailand finished second with 42-33-49, Indonesia third with 27-32-34, Malaysia fourth with 7-19-37, and the Philippines with 5-7-6.

Vietnam, finishing fifth at the 12th ASEAN University Games in Indonesia with nine golds, four silvers and seven bronzes, grabbed 74 golds at eight out of 12 events of the 13th editition: athletics (20), pencak silat (13), chess (11), taekwondo (11), karate (9), table tennis (7), volleyball (2), and swimming (1). Thailand bagged home golds from eight events, and Indonesia from seven events.

Nearly 1,100 young athletes of nine delegations, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam vied for, in the fair-play spirit and with the careful organization of the host, 157 sets of medals from 12 sports events, namely athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, football, karate, pencak silat, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and volleyball at the biennial tournament, held in Vietnam for the first time.

Malaysia is scheduled to host the 14th edition in 2008. ASEAN groups Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

Source: Xinhua