Viet clocked in 1:01.6 to surpass the old record and secure a gold medal for Viet Nam.

Indra Gunawan of Indonesia, who broke the SEA Games record during yesterday morning’s qualifications meet with a time of 1:02.59, came in just a touch behind at 1:01.92 for the silver medal.

The bronze medal went to Thailand’s Vorrawuti Aumpiwan, who finished with a time of 1:02.60.

Viet, who clocked 1:03.77 in the qualification round, and Indonesian Indra Gunawan set off at a fast sprint to start a close chase straight from the buzzer.

Indra was leading Viet in the first 50m by 14 hundredths of a second.

But Viet pushed himself in the last metres to surpass the record set by Gunawan only seven hours earlier.

“I’m so happy to set a new SEA Games record and take the gold medal today. It’s the first gold for the swimming team and I hope that my teammates will do better,” Viet said.

At the 23rd SEA Games in the Philippines, the Hai Phong City-born swimmer took a gold medal in the 100m breaststroke to become the first Vietnamese swimmer to win gold.

He repeated the feat with another gold in the 24th SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand two years ago.

Just after the final yesterday, a representative from the Viet Nam Aquatic Sports Association gave Viet a cash prize of VND20 million (US$1,000) for his record and for the gold medal.

Cross-country gold

Vietnamese cyclist Nguyen Thanh Dam won a gold medal in the women’s cross-country event with a time of 1:35.15.

Dam, who took home a silver medal from the last SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, averaged a speed of 17.89kph for her first place finish, 3 minutes and 42 seconds faster than the runner-up Hataichanok Srisuwan of Thailand.

Malaysian Masriyaton Radzi with a time of 1:40.28 rounded out the podium.

In other news, Vietnamese gold hopeful Dang Dinh Tien in billiards and snooker made it to the semi-final round in the one-cushion carom event after defeating Praprut Chaithanasakun of Thailand with a score of 100-44.

In volleyball, the Viet Nam men’s team eased past Cambodia 3-0 while the women’s team also recorded their first win against the Indonesians.

Meanwhile, in Muay, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung made it to the final in the light fly weight over-45kg event.

Vietnamese duo Huynh Quoc Tinh and Nguyen Thanh Vinh beat the Malaysian duo 2-1 in the men’s beach volleyball match while the country’s female duo Nguyen Thi Yen and Truong Thi Mai had their first win over a Malaysian pair.

Viet Nam’s men’s tennis team took the bronze medal after losing 3-0 to the Thais in the semi-finals.

VNN/VNS