Just minutes later, his teammate Vu Thanh An also struck gold, pushing Vietnam up to second place in the medals table.
Singapore are on top with five gold, three silver and three bronze medals.
Nhat, who was the first Vietnamese fencer to compete an Olympics in London three years ago, overcame host athlete Lim Wei Wen 15-8 in the final of the men’s individual epee event.
“I am very happy to be the first Vietnamese to win a SEA Games gold this year. My rivals in the semis and final were Singaporean who had strong support from their fans. I was a little worried at the start, but just tried to give it my all and attack Lim. I have met him several times but did not think I would win by such a large gap,” the 25-year-old Nhat said after the receiving the medal.
It is Nhat’s first SEA Games gold medal, although he has dominated the ASEAN Championships for five years in a row.
Meanwhile An triumphed in the men’s individual sabre event, defeating Choy Yu Yong of the hosts 15-11 in the final.
Earlier, Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu finished third in the women’s individual foil event.
Thu lost 6-15 to Filipino Tinio Justine Gail in the semi-final to share third place with Chantasuvannasin Nunta of Thailand.
Host athlete Wang Wenying went on the take the gold, beating Gail 15-7 in the final.
In the table tennis, Vietnam pocketed a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event.
It is the second bronze for the table tennis team who on May 3 finished third in the men’s doubles.
