Historic Games close on a high note
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Hanoi
The 22nd SEA Games 2003 concluded at the My Dinh Stadium here on Saturday with host Vietnam emerging as the new overall winner of the biennial sporting showcase in the Southeast Asian region.
Vietnam led almost from the start to emerge in top place in the medal standings, with 158 gold, 97 silver and 91 bronze medals. Thailand was second with 90 golds followed by Indonesia with 55 golds.
Malaysia, last season's overall champion, had to settle for fifth place with 44 golds behind the Philippines, host for the 2005 SEA Games, which collected 48.
Singapore finished with 30 golds and Myanmar 16, including two wushu golds won on the final day.
Laos, Cambodia and Brunei each took home one gold.
Only newly independent Timor Leste finished with no medals. It had 14 athletes in seven of the Games' 32 sports.
The closing ceremony started at 7 p.m. local time with a parade of the participating contingents, volunteers and referees.
Nguyen Danh Thai, chairman of the committee of the sports and physical culture of Vietnam said the Vietnamese hoped that the participants of the 22nd SEA Games would leave with spirited memories.
It was the first Games Vietnam had ever held, and the first time in the Games history that events were hosted in two cities (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City).
The 442 golds, from 32 sports, were distributed to successful athletes from 10 of the 11 participating countries with 26 new SEA Games records set.
Home star Nguyen Manh Tuong was named best male athlete. Tuong helped contribute five of the 25 gold medals the Vietnamese marksmen won in the shooting range.
Joscelin Yeoh, who won six of Singapore's nine gold medals in the swimming events, was named the best female athlete.
The Games was officially closed at 8:15 p.m. and the torch, which had been aglow in its cauldron since Dec. 5, was extinguished. The ceremony was then followed by a cultural performance.
Vietnam rose to the championship, largely helped by its domination in martial arts such as karate, wrestling, pencak silat, tae kwon do and wushu. Shooting was also its gold mine.
The host had a strong showing in track and field, fin-swimming and benefited with the introduction of the traditional sport of shuttle cock, in which it swept all seven golds at stake.
The three golds claimed in the fin swimming on Saturday made up the seven golds Vietnam won on the final day. Thailand, which took the men's soccer trophy, added another two golds to its tally. So did Indonesia and Myanmar.
The four goals claimed by the Philippines on the last day widened the gap between the 2005 host and Malaysia. The two participants had been swapping positions alternately the day before with the Philippines ahead only due to its higher number of silvers.
Indonesia's last two gold medals came from the chess and fin swimming squad.
Pricillia Gunawan won the women's fin swimming 1500m surface while the country's number one grand master Utut Adianto led his protege Susanto Megaranto to a one-two top in the standard chess competition in Ho Chi Minh City.
At the last Games in Kuala Lumpur in 2001, Vietnam was fourth in golds with 33, behind Malaysia's 111, Thailand's 103 and Indonesia's 72.