Malaysia leads track and field in SEA Games

By Primastuti Handayani

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (JP): Malaysia's track and field team put a dreadful start behind it by taking four of seven gold medals on the program at the Southeast Asian Games on Monday.

The region's track and field powerhouse, Thailand, continued to set the pace, winning three events to bring its total number of gold medals won in the sport to six as of the second day of competition.

Indonesia suffered a letdown after Irene Joseph's historic victory in the women's 100 meters on Sunday, scooping only four silvers and one bronze.

Trecia Roberts of Thailand made amends for her upset loss in the 100m dash by winning the 110m hurdles. She ran a new meet record of 12.85 seconds, eclipsing the eight-year-old mark set by Elma Muros of the Philippines by 0.81.

It was the only new record on in the day, and only the second since the track and field competition opened on Sunday.

Bich Huong Vu of Vietnam finished a distant second in 13.36 and Malaysian Siew Wei Moh clocked 13.82 for the bronze.

"Of course, I'm happy to win the gold although this is not my personal best," said the 28-year-old Roberts, who is making her SEA Games debut. The half-American's best time is 12.73.

"Anyway, it doesn't really matter to me as long as I can contribute the gold to my country."

Thailand is on a quest to surpass its haul of 15 golds from the previous Games, one gold shy of Malaysia's top achievement.

Mohd Malik Tobias put Malaysia in the gold medal winning club when he clocked 15.24 seconds to win the men's 110m hurdles. He beat Thai Viravut Jampatong (15.55 seconds) and Fidel Gallenero of the Philippines (15.71 seconds).

Narong Nilploy gave Thailand another gold for the day in winning the men's 400m in 47.02. Malaysian Romzi Bakar finished second in 47.08 while another Thai runner Wirot Sornhirun bagged the bronze in 47.16.

The women's 400m title went to Malaysia's Mani Magaly Nadaraja who ran 54.80 seconds, ahead of Thi Lan Huong Nguyen of Vietnam (55.25) and Raquel Peraira of Indonesia (55.25).

Malaysia's new recruit Yu Fang Yuan won a two-way race in the 10km walk over Indonesia's Ani Suprapti. The Malaysian clocked 45:22.05, far ahead of Ani in 55:44.67.

Another blow

Malaysia handed Indonesia another blow in the men's 10,000m when Murusamy Ramachandran beat archrival Eduardus Nabunome. Ramachandran who set the pace from the start finished in 30:24.98. Veteran Eduardus was next in 31:12.37, followed by Antonius Fallo of the Philippines (31:19.66).

Thailand's Netnapa Thaiking grabbed the gold after clearing 1.85m bar in the women's high jump. Teammate Rassamee Taemsri took the silver (1.82m) while Alinawati Hj Aliakbar of Brunei Darussalam took the bronze (1.55m).

Pinitjit Sarayudh earned Thailand its third gold in the men's shot put with a throw of 17.23 meters. The silver went to Indonesia's Sukraj Singh who threw 16.76m, while the bronze was taken by Thai Sawusdee Wunsawang with 16.23m.

Technical director of the Indonesian Amateur Athletics Association (PASI), Paulus Lay, said Indonesia hoped to win two golds in the 1,500 meters from defending champion Supriati Sutono and 200m dash from Irene Joseph.

"Supriati does not have a tough rival in the event. She's still the best in the region," he said.

Considering Irene's chances, Paulus said since her victory in the 100m PASI believed the 18-year-old sprinter could complete a double.

"Actually we never expected her to reach this far. But after Sunday's victory, we believe she has gained in confidence," he said.

Irene is likely to face tough competition from Thai Supavadee Khawpeag.