Sittichai Suwonprateep (THA) - 4x100m gold but silver in both individual sprints (© Aundry Gan)
The curtain came down on the SEA Games athletics' competition today, with the Philippines and Indonesia taking the last two gold medals - the men's and women's marathon respectively.
The win by Filipino's Allan Ballester - in a time of 2:21:03 - capped a successful outing at these Games for his country, which has dominated most of the men's distance races. In contrast, the win by Indonesia's Erni Ulatingsih (2: 52.28) could at best only salvage some lost pride for her country which used to be a regional power in track & field.
Finishing second and third respectively in the marathon, which covered parts of Hanoi City, were in the men’s race Vietnam's Nguyen Chi Dong (2:21:51) and Thailand's Boonchoo Jandacha (2:23:35), while in the women's category, Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Hoa (2:53:53) took the silver and the bronze went to another Indonesian, Feri Marince Subnafeu (2:56:40).
Thailand finishes with 13 gold in the athletics competition
With the times in both races not generating too much excitement among the international media, talk centred around whether Thailand, long the athletics' giant in South East Asia, had fulfilled its target at the My Dinh National Stadium this week.
While the Thais ended their campaign with 13 gold medals, this was below their original goal of 16. Also this figure paled in comparison to their best-ever gold medal haul of 22 at the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Even so, head coach Supanat Ariyamongkol did not see any reason for panic. While admitting that Malaysia and Vietnam had done well here, he also revealed that some of his athletes had been suffering various injuries recently.
Also, while there was obvious disappointment over the shock defeat of Sittichai Suwonprateep in the 100m and 200m, he and his team mates did well to win the 4x100m.
Coach Supanat also chose to look at the positive side of the story. For instance, Thailand's up-and-coming Boonthung Srisung, he noted with pleasure, created a big upset when he defeated the highly experienced Buenavista Eduardo of the Philippines in the men's 5000m (14:15.20).
Also, the men's 4x400m relay quartet of Banjong Lachua, Suwijack Kong Tong, Apsit Kuttiyawam and Narong Nippoly did well to win in 3:09.33. The highly-fancied Philippines (3:10.20) were second while Vietnam (3:14.76) was a distant third.
Close to overall Asian standards
Apart from the analysis of Thailand's performance, there was also some discussion about those athletes whose times or distances came closest to overall Asian standards.
The women, it would appear, had the edge over their male counterparts. In the Shot Put, Singapore's Duan Xuanhui (18.20m) and Zhang Guirong (17.96m) showed they have already way exceeded South East Asian standards, whereas Thailand's Juthaporn Krasaeyan was a distant third, with 15.41m.
Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Tinh was impressive with her new record of 23.19 in the 200m. Thailand's Jutamas Tawoncharoen (23.49) took the silver while her team mate favourite Orranut Klomdee (23.66) could only manage the bronze.
With her gold medal effort of 57.62 in the 400m Hurdles, Malaysia's Noraseela Mohd Khalid was also singled out, as was silver medallist Wassana Winatho (57.78) of Thailand.
Thai-American Trecia Robert's winning time of 13.45 in the 100m Hurdles may be well off her personal best but in terms of proximity to Asia's best, it was more commendable than the winning efforts in other events. Vietnam's Vu Bich Huong (13.64) was second, while Malaysia's Moh Siew Wei (13.78) came in third.
While Thailand's Suphan Wongsriphuck may still be far behind China's world class athlete Liu Xiang in the 110m Hurdles, there was some buzz over his ability to go below 14 seconds. He set a new SEA Games record with his time of 13.92. Malaysia's Mohd Robani Hassan (14.12 sec) took the silver, while Indonesia's Edy Jakariya (14.29) clinched the bronze.
No stopping some people!
Yet another topic dominating talk as the competition ended was the determination of some athletes who would not allow obstacles to get in their way. Here the Malaysians provided much drama.
Nine days after undergoing an angiogram for an irregular heartbeat, Yuan Yufang - going against her family's wishes - took part in the 20km Race Walk here. She won in 1:39:25 - more than three minutes better than the record she set in 2001.
High jumper Loo Kum Zee was also unsure if he should take part here following the recent death of his dad. But, knowing that the elder Loo would have wanted him to defend his title for the fifth time, he went ahead and won - with 2.15m. The modest height didn't matter. The gold did!
