Vietnam has secured a gold medal in the SEA Games 2025 after a dominant performance in the Arena of Valor women’s event.
The 33rd SEA Games, taking place right now in Thailand, features esports as a medal category for the fourth consecutive edition.
Vietnam entered the women’s tournament as clear favourites and never looked fazed. The team cruised through to the grand final after a dominant showing in the group stage and upper bracket final, where it didn’t drop a single game.
Vietnam carried this momentum into the grand finals as well and completed a clean 4-0 against Laos to lock in the gold medal. Three of the four maps ended before the 11-minute mark, showcasing Vietnam’s domination as it maintained constant pressure.
Game two was the only one which stretched slightly longer to around 14 minutes, but even then, Laos struggled to gain any real map control.
Laos’ presence in the gold medal match came after a significant scandal involving the home team, Thailand.
On December 15th, the Thai Esports Federation (TESF) announced that Thailand’s Warasin Naphat, had been expelled by the organising committee for using an unauthorised third-party software. She was found using this in the upper bracket grand finals against Vietnam, a match the team lost nonetheless.
Following the suspension, the Thailand women’s team withdrew from the tournament after Game 1 of the lower-bracket final.
That decision allowed Laos to get a bye into the grand final and awarded Timor-Leste the bronze medal.
For the country of Timor-Leste, this moment allowed it to earn its second overall medal so far at the 2025 SEA Games.
What’s Next in the SEA Games for Esports?
Esports action in Thailand is just getting underway. Notably, Arena of Valor’s men’s competition is scheduled to take place on December 18th and 19th.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is also reaching its final stages. Both the men’s and women’s Grand Finals feature the same matchup, with the Philippines set to face Malaysia in the fight for gold.
Free Fire is also part of the SEA Games line-up in 2025, and will commence on December 17th as 12 teams battle it out for the gold medal.
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