Vietnam won the men's team title at the Southeast Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, beating the hosts, Malaysia, 3-1 in the final. It is Vietnam's first men's team title at the championships since 2016.
Dinh Anh Hoang put Vietnam ahead by beating Choong Javen 3-2, taking the fifth game 11-9, and Nguyen Anh Tu then beat Wong Qi Shen 3-0. Lee Hong An kept Malaysia in the final with a five-game win over Le Dinh Duc.
The title was settled in an unusual way. Dinh Anh Hoang had come back from losing the first game against Wong and led 10-8 in the fourth when Wong was shown a second yellow card, for abusive language, and then a red, a rare sight in table tennis. The penalty point gave Dinh the game 11-8 and the match 3-1. The Star reported that Wong's first yellow card had come for throwing his water bottle into the towel bin.
Both teams had won all their matches before the final. Vietnam, coached by Vu Van Trung, beat Singapore 3-1 in the semi-finals, reversing their defeat by Singapore in the men's team final at last year's SEA Games, and Malaysia beat Indonesia in the other semi-final.
The championships run until Saturday, with the doubles and singles events still to be decided.
