Thailand walks off with men's team title

Thailand walks off with men's team title

By Ivy Susanti

JAKARTA (JP): Thailand's strength in depth enabled it to
retain its supremacy of the men's gymnastics yesterday when it
walked of with the men's team event.

Its convincing 206 points easily beat Indonesia's aggregate
score of 194.25 in the six apparatus events.

Malaysia came third by scoring 189.350.

"I am very happy and I'm also proud of the team's
performance," said Thailand's team coach Pompong Itthayophasakul.

He said the Games served as a warmup for next year's Asian
Games and other international events, such as the Sydney Olympic
Games.

The star of last night's competition was Amornthep Unchai, who
scored 52.250, which included the highest score on the rings.

"I am very happy (about the result) and I want to win in every
competition, including in the next performance," Unchai said
after the tenacious struggle against his main rival, Jonathan
Mangiring Sianturi from Indonesia.

The 23-year-old Unchai performed with great confidence
throughout despite being rudely booed by the Indonesian
supporters who heckled him during each of his performances.

He said he was confident of winning further gold today because
he had trained very hard for more than a year for the Games.

"I want to be number one," he declared.

However, he said the victory was due to good cooperation and
camaraderie among the whole team.

Indonesia was very pleased about winning the silver after such
a tough competition, considering the poor health of some of its
athletes.

"The result is the same as two years ago, but I'm very proud
with the high spirit of our athletes," said team manager Andi
Darussalam Tabusalla.

He said four of the player had either just recovered from or
were still nursing injuries.

Jonathan said yesterday that he was not too upset by the
result. "It's quite good," he said.

Jonathan, a devout Christian said that he always prayed before
each of his performances. Like Unchai, he too expressed
confidence that he could win today.

"Nothing is impossible in this world. Winning is not an
immediate decision. If God wants me to win, I'll win. I believe
that I can do nothing without His (grace)," he said.

He said that Thailand's main advantage was that its team had
no weak links.