Surprises seen in men's singles and mixed doubles events

The singles and doubles events of the 2016 Nhan Dan Newspaper National Table Tennis Championship commenced on May 13, with surprises seen in the men’s singles event and the mixed doubles category as a number of 2015 medalists suffered early drop-outs.

Last year’s third-place finisher Nguyen Xuan Hien of Vicem Hoang Thach Hai Duong had his men’s singles campaign ended after a surprise loss of 2-4 to Duong Van Nam of the Army team.

Meanwhile, other strong players of the men’s singles discipline easily progressed further into the tournament, with 2015 bronze medalist Tran Tuan Quynh (T&T) beating Phuong Long (Army) and 2014 champion Doan Kien Quoc (Khanh Hoa) trouncing Nam Phuong (Tien Giang) by the same score of 4-0.

Reigning champion Dinh Quang Linh (Army) broke no sweat to advance as his opponent Khoi Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh City) withdrew from the match.

The women’s singles event saw no surprises as last year’s winner Mai Hoang My Trang (Petrosetco HCM City) as well as 2015 bronze medalists Phan Hoang Tuong Giang and Nguyen Thi Viet Linh (Ministry of Public Security) registered comfortable 4-0 victories against opponents.

In the mixed doubles category, 2015 third-place performers Quang Linh - Luong Thi Tam (Army) and Thanh Son - Viet Linh (Ministry of Public Security) had to bid an early farewell to this year’s campaign following their defeats to two pairs of Vicem Hoang Thach Hai Duong: Tuan Anh - Thu Ha and Duc Tuan - Nguyen Thi Hue. Meanwhile, reigning champions Mai Hoang My Trang - Le Dinh Duy (Petrosetco) remain too strong to be beaten and hold strong advantages in their title defence mission.

(Source: NDO)