Tran Tuan Quynh of Ha Noi had a perfect start on the opening day of the National All-stars Table Tennis Championship at Trinh Hoai Duc Gymnasium on October 20.

Paddle wheel: Tran Tuan Quynh beat Vu Thai Ngoc Trinh 3-1 on the opening day of the National All-Star Table Tennis Championship on October 20.

Nguyen Hoang Chung from Hoang Thach Cement was defeated by Dao Duy Hoang from Public Security Ministry 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5).

In the most anticipated game yesterday, Mai Hoang My Trang of HCM City Telecommunication drew first blood by beating her team mate Mai Xuan Hang 3-1 in the opening day of the women’s singles event.

Nguyen Thi Thuy An from Vinh Long cruised to a 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-8) win over her fellow countrywoman Truong Thi Xuan Duyen.

Quynh, who took the Southeast Asian Championship in 2002 and the SEA Games in 2003, started the opener with a match against his team mate, Ngoc Trinh. He won the first set 11-4.

In the first minutes of the second set, Quynh continued with his momentum from the first set to take the lead 3-1, but he soon fell behind with faulty smashes and serves.

Trinh capitalised on his opponents mistakes and took the set, 11-9, to tie the game. Unable able to keep up his momentum, Trinh was dominated in the third set, 11-4.

In the crucial fourth set, Trinh came close to finishing the set with a 10-9 lead, but he failed to pull through.

Quynh then took Trinh to a tie break and finished the match with a 17-15 win.

The SEA Games gold medallist has to win four more games in order to win the tournament. Tomorrow he will challenge two-time Olympian Doan Kien Quoc of Khanh Hoa.

The championship, has drawn the top 24 men’s and women’s table tennis athletes. The tournament will be the final test for the Vietnamese players before the SEA Games in Laos later this year.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News