Malaysia nears Thailand in quest for gold
By Primastuti Handayani and Ivy Susanti
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (JP): Thailand moved back on top of the medal tally with a seven-gold haul from its track and field team on the fourth day of competition at the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Halfway into the Games, Thailand collected 42 golds, 30 silvers and 37 bronzes to top the standings ahead of resurgent Malaysia, which closely trailed with 40 golds, 31 silvers and 31 bronzes.
Regular overall champion Indonesia felt the effect of the radical cut of events. It was a virtual spectator to the two-way race between the Thais and Malaysians over the past three days, bagging 32 golds, 30 silvers and 38 bronzes to stay third.
A clean sweep of three golds in traditional boat races restored Indonesia's pride amid the drought in the track and pool categories. National paddlers took the gold in the men's 22-crew 400 meters, men's 12-crew 800m and women's 12-crew 800m.
In track and field, Indonesia won a gold from men's pole- vaulter Nunung Jayadi to finish at par with its pretournament estimate of winning five golds. Nunung cleared 5.05 meters to beat the old mark of 4.95m.
The seven golds won on the last day of the track and field competition brought Thailand's medal tally in the event to 20 out of a possible 41. Malaysia was second with six golds fewer.
There was a one-two finish for Indonesia in the pool despite its overall poor showing in the pool. Richard Sam Bera proved he was the region's fastest man in the pool after winning the men's 50m freestyle to add his previous 100m freestyle title. He finished Wednesday's race in 23.49 seconds, ahead of teammate Wisnu Wardhana.
Singapore swimmer Joscelin Yeo sprang a surprise earlier in the day when she pulled out of two events she hoped to win. She forfeited heats for the 200m breastroke and 200m freestyle, which was eventually won by Pilin Tashakittiranan of Thailand and Nicolette Teo of Singapore respectively.
In the men's cross-country cycling, Ferry Sonic fulfilled his ambition to win the gold after finishing first in 01:47:18.01 with an average speed of 18.79 km/hr. Teammate Sugianto was second in 01:52:21.02 and the bronze went to Kwei Ming Chung of Brunei Darussalam with 01:56:15.03.
Indonesia clinched only one gold and two bronzes in the last day of the karate event on Wednesday. But Novilus Tedius Yoku's victory in the men's open class was enough to allow Indonesia to sigh with relief for matching its target of seven gold medals.
In tae kwon do, Indonesia's sole finalist Andri Halim saw his bid for a hat trick of gold medals fail after losing to Vietnam's Nguyen Van Hung as the final day of the program was marred with a protest from the Indonesian coach for alleged unfair refereeing.
Indonesian tennis players cruised to the next round in the individual events.
Men's singles Febi Widhiyanto overwhelmed Singaporean Yang Sian 6-0, 6-1. His compatriot Suwandi, the 1993 champion, defeated Tran Duc Quynh of Vietnam 6-1, 6-3.
The victory put Febi in a rematch against Danai Udomchoke of Thailand on Thursday. Danai outplayed Febi in their team event final won by Thailand on Tuesday.
"I'm sure I can take revenge tomorrow. Our scores were really tight. I won't change my strategy but I will have to be more patient," Febi said.
All Indonesian shuttlers also cruised to the second round. Men's singles Ronny Agustinus beat Van Hoi Lo of Vietnam 15-8, 15-1, and men's doubles team of Halim Heryanto and Wahyu Agung defeated Lickai Jack Hee and Yeow Nam Ho of Malaysia 15-5, 15-2.