Volleyball squads make the Kingdom proud

On the penultimate day of the Games, the Thai volleyball teams made a clean sweep in the men’s and women’s indoor events.

In the women’s event, Thailand, the two-time Asian champions and world No 12, thrashed arch-rivals Vietnam, the team they had beaten in the round-robin preliminaries, 25-16 25-20 25-18 for their 11th gold medal and seventh in a row.

In the men’s showdown, Thailand, world No 34, pulled off a scintillating straight sets 25-20 25-17 25-21 win over Indonesia for their fifth gold medal in a row. Veteran Wanchai Tabwises and Yuranan Buadaeng, who were the heroes of the team, decided to call it a day after the gold medal triumph.

Earlier, rowers made the Kingdom proud by winning the day’s first gold in the men’s 20-crew 2,000m event, their only golf in the Traditional Boat Race.

A total of six gold medals were up for grabs on the final day of the taekwondo competition, which saw Philippine exponents perform well to capture two gold. Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand shared one gold apiece.

Thailand’s lone gold came from Ramnarong Sawekwiharee in the men’s 54kg final, while Panipak Wongpattanakit took the silver in the women’s 46kg class.

In the Muay contest, Pisal Iamsiri handed Thailand the gold medal by winning the men’s 57kg event.

In the chess competition, Nakorn Trisa-ard captured a gold medal in the men’s traditional individual standard, with team-mate Pairoj Suwan claiming bronze.

At press time, Thailand have won 101 gold medals, enough to take the overall title. Hosts Myanmar were second overall with 78 gold, while Vietnam were in third position with 72 gold.

Thailand still have chances of winning more gold medals as their men’s football team were due to take on Indonesia in a match later in the evening yesterday.

 

Nuanphan happy with success

Thailand’s women soccer team manager Nuanphan Lamsam was ecstatic after her wards ended a four-year wait to clinch the SEA Games gold medal by beating old rivals Vietnam 2-1 in Friday’s final. Four years ago in Laos, the Thais were beaten by Vietnam on penalties in the final. With women’s soccer competition excluded from the Games in the previous edition in Indonesia, the country were made to wait longer than usual to set the record straight.

They did it in spectacular style after Anusara Muncharoen, a member of the team that suffered the heartbreaking loss on penalties, scored the winner from a corner shortly after the restart 

“I’m very happy that the girls were able to do it today. We waited for this gold medal for four years. We can be very proud with the success today. 

“I want to thank the football association for the support they always gave us and the players, who were never discouraged by the challenge. They showed great determination to earn success today. It’s such an admirable effort. I hope this gold medal would drive us to further success at the AFC’s Women Asian Cup next year. The SEA Games title is an important step for us on the way to world-class stage,” he said.

 

 

MEDAL TABLE

G S B

Thailand 101 92 79

Myanmar 78 57 82

Vietnam 72 82 81

Indonesia 64 80 107

Malaysia 41 38 72

Singapore 33 29 42

Philippines 29 32 36

Laos 13 15 46

Cambodia 8 11 28

Timor-Leste 2 3 5

Brunei 1 1 6

 

NOTE: Last updated 6pm, December 21