Thailand sends largest contingent to SEAG

JAKARTA (JP): Defending champion Thailand, aiming to retain its title, is sending the largest national squad for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur in September.

Chief Operating Officer of the 21st SEA Games Secretariat, Mohd Zaki Abdul Rahman, said on Wednesday that according to the number of entries, Thailand would send 397 male athletes and 300 female athletes.

He said, as quoted by Bernama news agency, that the second largest contingent would be from host Malaysia with 673 athletes (380 men, 293 women), followed by Indonesia with 603 athletes (334 men, 269 women), the Philippines with 552 athletes (307 men, 245 women).

Singapore will send 497 athletes (298 men, 199 women), Vietnam 431 athletes (236 men, 195 women), Myanmar 359 athletes (212 men, 147 women),

Laos will field 134 athletes (106 men, 28 women), Brunei Darussalam 148 athletes (114 men, 34 women) and Cambodia 92 athletes (71 men, 21 women).

"Overall, based on the entry by numbers, a total of 4,330 athletes will participate in the games this year. However, this number is not final because participating countries could still add or reduce the number of their athletes," Rahman was quoted as saying by Bernama.

He said the participating countries could still submit the names of additional athletes until the deadline on Aug. 11.

Indonesia's National Sports Council -- facing financial difficulties with a Rp 13.9 billion (US$1.22 million) deficit -- had planned to reduce the number of athletes based on the available budget and potential medal-winning events.

Rahman said based on the list of athletes, the event with the largest number of participants would be athletics where 402 athletes -- comprising of 218 men and 184 women -- would be competing for 46 gold medals.

Water sports -- offering 43 golds -- had the second largest number of participants with 322 athletes comprising 199 men and 123 women.

Meanwhile, fencing had the least number of participants with 46 competitors comprising 27 men and 19 women.

The Sept. 8 to Sept. 17 Games will take place in Klang Valley, Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang. The biennial event is set to have 32 sports offering a total of 391 golds, 391 silvers and 501 bronzes. (yan)