Nguyen Anh Tu finishes runner-up in the men’s singles event of the 2022 Southeast Asian Table Tennis Championships in Thailand.   

NDO – Vietnamese table tennis star Nguyen Anh Tu earned a silver medal at the 12th Southeast Asian Table Tennis Championships in Thailand after losing 2-4 to Singapore’s Chew Zheyu Clarence in the men’s singles final on June 28.

Anh Tu started the title match well, winning the first two sets with respective scores of 11-7 and 11-9.

However, the Vietnamese player could not preserve the big advantage as Chew Zheyu Clarence fought back to win the next two sets at 11-9 and 11-6 to restore parity.

The fifth set witnessed a thrilling score chase, with the Singaporean player claiming victory with a record score of 25-23.

Entering the sixth set, Anh Tu quickly lost 4-11, thus dropping the gold medal to Chew Zheyu Clarence.

En route to the title decider, Anh Tu overcame two other Singaporean representatives, Quek Yong Izaac (quarter-finals) and Pang Yew En Koen (semi-finals).

Chew Zheyu Clarence is a leading table tennis player from Singapore who has won many championship titles in different categories at the Southeast Asian level.

In the recent 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, he lost the men’s singles semi-final to Vietnam’s Nguyen Duc Tuan, who then clinched the overall gold medal by beating Thailand’s Phakpoom 4-1 in the final match.

Nguyen Duc Tuan was absent from the regional championships in Thailand due to injury.