VIETNAM’s Nguyen Thi That stole the limelight in Putrajaya, shocking home favourite Jupha Somnet to clinch the women’s criterium SEA Games cycling held at the federal administrative capital, on Monday (21 Aug).
It was a dramatic finish with three 2015 medallists battling it out to finish tops again this year.
No doubt it was Nguyen’s breakthrough, who was the silver medallist in the Singapore SEA Games, to bag her first gold medal in the Criterium event.
Meanwhile, Jupha, the 2015 bronze medallist, had to settle for silver with a similar time of 1hr:02.09s.
2015 gold medallist Jutatip Maneephan, who was leading the track, suffered a setback as she was forced to settle for a bronze medal.
With 1km to the finish, Jupha, 24, found herself out of position behind the Vietnamese rider and struggled to catch her up due to the headwind.
Jupha has another shot at the gold in the women’s individual mass start event on Wednesday (23 Aug).
“I’ve got anther shot on Wednesday, we’ll work out a plan,” said Jupha.
