Thailand takes gold medals in track and field
Thailand takes gold medals in track and field
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (JP): Host Thailand enjoyed another record-breaking bash in track and field at the 18th Southeast Asian Games yesterday.
The Thais looked mighty, snatching seven of the nine gold medals at stake on the third day of competition. They allowed Indonesia and the Philippines one gold each in events they have never mastered.
The home favorites also shattered four new meet records, with their two high jumpers sharing the glory. Rassamee Teamsri and Jaruwan Jenjudkarn both cleared the 1.85-meter bar, raising by three centimeters Rassamme's four-year-old record.
It was Rassammee, however, who deserved the gold medal for her flawless leaps on her way to clearing 1.85m. Jaruwan spoiled her superb performance by requiring a second attempt to beat the 1.83m. Both tried the 1.87m after their smooth 1.85m leaps, but failed in each of their three attempts.
My Hanh Vu of Vietnam was the toughest challenger for the Thais, but she made her best leap at 1.77m and gave up after three abortive tries for 1.80m.
Jittakorn Kraseyan set another new record in the men's shot put when he threw 16.37m to beat his teammate Bancha Supanroj's mark of 16.25m, set in Manila four years ago. Bancha managed only 15.50m to finish third behind Abdul Rahim of Malaysia, who threw 16.31m.
"It's great to win a gold and beat my predecessor. The time is now come for me to fill the shoes of Bancha, since he may be too old to match his younger rivals now," Jittakorn said.
Jittakorn celebrated his first SEA Games gold medal ever by plunging himself into a pool near the 700th Anniversary stadium, the venue of track and field competition.
The third record of the day was established by Charmon Kenchan, who clocked 49.76 seconds to cut his two-year-old 400m hurdles mark by 78 hundredths of a second. Vietnam's Duong Phong came in a distant second with 53.07, followed by another Thai, Songpol Sangmak, who was timed 54.32.
Thailand continued their record-breaking run in the men's 4-by-100m relay. The defending Thai quartet maintained their usual time of less than 40 seconds, clocking 39.42 to better their old record by 15 hundredths of a second.
Faster
Sorely missing Mardi Lestari, Indonesia finished only third, with 40.78, behind Malaysia's 40.75.
A total of 10 meet records have now been improved after three days of competition.
Thailand completed its golden spree in the women's 4-by-100m relay. The host runners cruised to a sub-par time of 45.67, but remained faster than their Indonesian rivals, who managed 46.54. Laos took the bronze with 52.35.
Timotius Ndiken gained a consolation in the decathlon, an event Indonesia has traditionally excelled. Timotius collected a modest score of 5,840, far below his predecessor Julius Uwe's score of 7.
"I'm not too satisfied with my performance today, but the result looks okay since I had to compete with a strained foot and ankle," Timotius said.
"The injuries nearly robbed me of my concentration, but I knew that nobody has recently been strong enough to match Indonesians in this muscular sport," he added.
The Philippines won its single gold of the day through veteran Hector Begeo in the 3,000m steeplechase. Begeo clocked 8:59.73 to beat defending champion Parluatan Siregar of Indonesia, who finished 16 seconds behind. (amd)