Nguyen Anh Tu and Doan Ba Tuan Anh, both members of the team that won the 2016 title in Indonesia, competed again this year, joined by younger teammates including Dinh Anh Hoang of the CAND-T&T club.
With Malaysia playing at home, Hoang, 25, was given the opening singles against Javen Choong. He said it was a tough assignment, as Choong was the men’s singles champion at the previous edition of the biennial tournament.
Choong won four gold medals at the 2024 championships, in men’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and the men’s team event.
Hoang started strongly, taking the first game 11-3, but Choong quickly drew level and the two traded games to force a decider.
Hoang kept his composure at the decisive moment, winning the fifth game 11-9 for a 3-2 victory (11-3, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9) that gave Vietnam the first point.
Nguyen Anh Tu then beat Wong Qi Shen 3-0 to put Vietnam 2-0 up. Lee Hong An pulled one back for the hosts by edging Le Dinh Duc 3-2, reviving Malaysia’s hopes of a comeback and putting the pressure back on Hoang.
Facing Wong in the fourth match, Hoang lost the first game 6-11 but quickly adjusted, winning a tight second game 12-10 before taking the next two 11-9 and 11-8 to win 3-1 and seal the title.
The match ended on a penalty point, the New Straits Times reported. With Hoang leading 10-8 in the fourth game, Wong was shown a second yellow card, then a red card, for abusive language. He had received his first yellow earlier for throwing his water bottle into the towel bin.
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Dinh Anh Hoang celebrates his win over Malaysia’s Javen Choong at the Southeast Asian Table Tennis Championships in Malaysia on Nov. 12, 2026. Photo courtesy of T&T Group |
Vu Manh Cuong, head coach of CAND-T&T, said the two wins in the final capped a standout tournament for Hoang. In the men’s team event, Hoang won seven of his eight singles matches, his only defeat a 3-2 loss to Thailand’s Phakphoom.
In the group stage, he helped Vietnam beat Thailand 3-2, Cambodia 3-0, Brunei 3-0 and Indonesia 3-1 to finish top of the group.
He was even more decisive in the semifinal against Singapore. After Tuan Anh lost the opening match, Hoang went into the second against Nicholas Tan under heavy pressure, won the first game, then fell 2-1 behind.
Tan led 7-3 in the fourth game before Hoang reeled off six straight points to go 9-7 up and win it 11-9. Hoang then took the deciding game 11-5 to complete a 3-2 comeback.
In the fourth match, Hoang beat Josh Chua, who had defeated Tuan Anh in the opener, 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-8).
His two wins carried Vietnam past Singapore 3-1 and into the final, avenging a 3-2 defeat by the same opponents in the men’s team final at the 2025 SEA Games. Across the semifinal and final, Hoang won all four of his matches.
Cuong said training camps and a strong showing at this year’s National Games had helped Hoang improve technically and stay composed at key moments, carrying him through a run of difficult matches.
Hoang came through T&T Group’s table tennis academy and won the mixed doubles gold with Tran Mai Ngoc at the 2023 SEA Games, Vietnam’s first SEA Games gold in the event in 26 years.
Since May 2024, he and several other players who came up through Hanoi T&T have played for CAND-T&T, a club formed under a partnership between the People’s Public Security sports association and T&T Group.