RP, Vietnam, S'pore claim first golds ahead of opening

RP, Vietnam, S'pore claim first golds ahead of opening

John Pye, Associated Press, Hanoi

Vietnamese woke up bleary-eyed on Friday after a night of massive
celebrations for a soccer triumph, setting the stage for formal
festivities opening the first Southeast Asian Games staged in
Vietnam.

The Philippines and Singapore secured their first gold medals
here Friday, but local attention remained on the 1-0 win over
Indonesia the previous night, a gymnastics victory and the
opening ceremony later in the evening.

Tens of thousands of people poured onto the streets with
national flags and rode motorcycles in victory laps in downtown
Hanoi on Thursday night after Vietnam's team moved within a match
of the soccer semifinals at the 22nd SEA Games.

The host nation marked the official opening day Friday with
gold in the women's gymnastics team event, scoring 124.55 points
to edge Singapore by 0.125 and setting a stylistic benchmark for
the thousands of performers involved in the opening ceremonies.

The 40,000-seat National Stadium was sold out, with government
officials, special guests and regular citizens clamoring to
witness Vietnam's debut as host of a major international sports
event.

The Philippines' first gold medal in Hanoi was unexpected,
with the women's archery team rallying for a 218-211 upset over
Malaysia after knocking off top-seeded Indonesia in the
semifinals.

The Philippines trailed Malaysia 74-68 after the first round
and 145-139 after the second before Jasmin Figueroa, with a final
round 28 out of a possible 30, and Jennifer Chan, with a 27,
secured the win.

"I thought a gold medal was coming my way today after winning
a silver medal in the individual event. ... I am very sad with
the defeat," Malaysian archer Mon Redee told reporters. She lost
out to an Indonesian in the first gold-medal match of the event.

The Malaysians had more success in the men's team archery
final, with Muhamad Marbawi Sulaiman combining with Cheng Chu
Sian and Amirnulah Ahmad to give the defending SEA Games No. 1
nation its second gold medal with a 236-232 win over Indonesia.
Sulaiman had won the men's individual event on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Singapore continued its dominating run in water
polo at the SEA Games, beating Indonesia 11-4 to complete an
undefeated five-match campaign here and ensure its 20th
consecutive title.

"We've become better as the tournament progressed," said team
manager Matthew Tan. The team "is looking very good now."
Singapore notched 62 goals in five matches, including a 22-7
demolition of Vietnam and a 15-4 defeat of Malaysia. Its closest
scoreline was 7-6 in its opening win over Philippines.

Thailand (3-1-1) edged Philippines 9-7 for the silver, while
the Filipinos settled for bronze with two wins, two losses and a
draw.

Vietnam and Malaysia, trying to avoid last place, were to meet
in the last league match Saturday, when the water polo medals
were to be presented.

A few hours before the official opening, Vietnam, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had a gold medal apiece.
The Games run through Dec. 13, with 442 gold medals up for grabs
in 32 sports. All 10 members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations plus East Timor were competing at the biennial
event.