SEA Games 2021 Officially Starts

Advertisement

The 2021 Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as the 31st Southeast Asian Games or 31st SEA Games, has officially opened. The opening of the biennial regional multi-sport event was held at My Dinh Stadium, Ha Noi, Vietnam on Thursday (12/5) night.

The opening ceremony started at 20.00 WIB. The combination of colossal action Augmented Reality and Extended Reality visual techniques are beautifully presented in the field. The art event lasted for more than 30 minutes and was divided into two themes namely ‘Friendly Vietnam’ and ‘Strong Southeast Asia’.

After that, the defile of the participating countries’ athletes was introduced one by one. Starting from Brunei Darussalam. Athletes from Cambodia followed behind Brunei.

The red and white flag that Emilia Nova carried then flew next. Behind Emilia Nova can be seen several athletes, coaches, and officials from various sports.

In addition to wearing a red coat and white shirt and white pants, the Indonesian representatives also displayed a variety of customs and cultures with various models of head coverings from various regions in Indonesia.

From the VIP seats, PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy were seen welcoming the Indonesian contingent walking in the middle of the arena.

After that followed the contingents of the Philippines, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Timor Leste. While the Vietnamese contingent appeared last.

The flag-raising procession of the SEA Games and ASEAN took place before the opening speeches of Chu Ngoc Anh of the Hanoi People’s Committee and Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourist Nguyen Van Hung.

Meanwhile, the opening of the 2021 SEA Games was carried out by Nguyen Xuan Phuc as the President of Vietnam.

Several matches, including the medal match, had already taken place before the opening ceremony which took place tonight.

Standings Update

The Host, Vietnam, still leads the medal standings for the 2021 SEA Games, followed by Malaysia in second and Indonesia in third, Friday afternoon.

In the temporary medal standings, Vietnam is in first place with a total of 36 medals (15 gold, 9 silver, and 12 bronze), and Malaysia is in second place with a total of 21 medals (11 gold, 4 silver, and 6 bronze) and Indonesia is in third place with a total of 14 medals (5 gold, 8 silver, 1 bronze).

On Friday, Vietnam added to their gold medal in the women’s wushu category, Taolu Jianshu, which was won by their athlete Thuy Vi Duong.

Vietnam added its gold again through the women’s category wushu branch Taolu Daoshu + Gunshu through athlete Thu Phuong Giang Hoang.

Apart from Wushu, Vietnam also won a gold medal from the rowing branch in the Lightweight Quadruple Sculls category after defeating Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Still, in the rowing branch, Vietnam secured a gold medal in the women’s pair category by defeating Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, and the Philippines.

On the other hand, until this afternoon, Indonesia managed to add two gold medals, four silver medals, and one bronze medal from rowing and wushu sports.

One gold medal was contributed by rowing athletes Mahendra Yanto, Ali Buton, Ferdiansyah, and Denri Maulidzar Alghiffari who appeared in the Lightweight Four men’s category.

Other gold medals were contributed by Ali Mardiansyah, Kakan Rusman, Ihram, and Ardi Isadi who appeared in the rowing sport in the Men’s Lightweight Quadruple Sculls category.

Furthermore, the silver medals were donated by Julianti/Chelsea Corputty in the Women’s Lightweight Quadruple Sculls rowing, Nandhira Mauriskha in the women’s wushu category of Jianshu, and Euginia Diva Widodo in the wushu category of the Gunshu women’s category.

One bronze medal was contributed by Seraf Naro Siregar who appeared in the wushu sport in the Changquan men’s category.