Chess prodigy Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and teammates wrapped up proceedings on the final day of competition yesterday at the SEA Games in the Philippines, clinching gold in all four remaining events at Tagaytay City Convention Centre.

Mental athlete: Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son en route to his second SEA Games chess title.

The Vietnamese team managed to sweep aside the competition and display a dominance that justified their standing as competition favourites at the beginning of the games.

After clinching four events during yesterday's play the team had secured a total of eight titles on offer at the games, with the other four coming earlier last week.

Dominance in chess also helped raise Vietnam's gold medal haul to 71, falling just short of Thailand's 86 and Philippines' 113.

World U-16 champion Son, who won Vietnam's first chess gold at the Games last Monday, clinched his second title yesterday after taking out the men's standard chess individuals.

FIDE master Le Quang Liem shored up Vietnam's medal tally in the event with a silver, while Singapore's Goh Wei-ming grabbed the bronze.

Son and Liem were later joined by grand masters Nguyen Anh Dung and Tu Hoang Thong for the men's team event, outclassing the competition with a unbeatable points haul.

Teams from Philippines and Indonesia could only look on as they were systematically dismantled by their competition, coming out with a consolation silver and bronze, respectively.

International master and national champion Nguyen Thi Thanh An pocketed Vietnam's seventh chess gold late yesterday, dominating the women's standard chess individuals title.

An's teammate Le Thanh Tu was unable to come up with the goods on the day and had to settle for silver, while Indonesian Lisa Karlina Lumongdorig adorned the bronze.

The women's team rounded off the day for Vietnam with a golden exhibition of their skills, finishing ahead of Philippines and third placed Indonesia.

The University of St La Salle Grounds in Bacolod City played host to the Vietnamese women's volleyball team, who tried to reclaim some pride after their loss two years ago to Thailand at the 22nd SEA Games.

Unfortunately for the team they failed to perform yesterday, forcing them to settle for second place once again after losing 3-0 (20-25,10-25, 20-25) to the Thai opponents in the final.

Chess proved to be one of Vietnam's most successful events at the conclusion of the games after the team secured every title on offer, improving on last year's haul of four gold.

The track-and-field team also performed exceedingly well with eight gold, while the martial arts squad - wushu, pencak silat, karatedo, taekwondo, judo and amis - contributed 30 gold to the country's tally.

Wushu and pencak silat squads each managed seven gold, with karatedo and gymnastics teams pitching in five apiece.

Wrestlers won six golds to add up to the tally.

Vietnamese taekwondo and judo contestants added a further four gold each, while marksmen kicked in three gold and amis artists added an additional three gold on the sport's debut.

Fencing, cycling and billiards-and-snooker team members each brought in two gold, with swimmer, rowers, footballers, bodybuilder and canoeing fielding one gold apiece.

Vietnamese team officials have hailed the games a success after the national squad finished third at the conclusion of the games, fulfilling their target of finishing in the top three.

(Source: Viet Nam News)