Kingdom stay third after slow day
Petanque, judo and shooting yield 3 golds
SINGAPORE: Thailand made a slow progress yesterday, winning only three gold medals to remain third in the overall race at the 28th SEA Games.
The Thai winners were petanque star Nantawan Fueangsanit, judo exponent Kunathip Yea-On and the women’s shooting team.
Nantawan came from 7-0 behind to beat Cambodia’s Un Sreya 13-8 in the women’s singles final.
It was her second SEA Games gold medal after her success in the team event at the previous tournament in 2013.
“I did not play well at the beginning but I regrouped after being 7-0 down,” said the Phichit native.
“The gold medal is for my family and all Thais.”
In shooting, Pattarasuda Sowsa-nga, Angsana Niamrassamee and Rapassanan Tananamornpong carded a combined tally of 1,723 points to win the women’s precision pistol team event.
They beat the Philippines who amassed 1,700 points, while Malaysia were third with 1,602 points.
On the last day of judo competitions, Kunathip, 19, defeated Myanmar’s Aung Zin Linn in the men’s over 100kg final.
Thonthan Satjadet was second in the women’s over 78kg division after losing to Myanmar’s Myo Khin Thu in the final.
In table tennis, the Thai women lost 3-2 to Singapore in the team final.
Meanwhile, swimmer Joseph Schooling brought joy to grieving Singapore as he claimed another two SEA Games gold medals for the hosts and both in eventrecord time.
Flags flew at half-mast and Games venues observed a sombre minute’s silence for the eight Singaporean victims, mostly schoolchildren, of Friday’s Mount Kinabalu earthquake.
Schooling had pledged to swim for those killed in Malaysia, and he duly brought his Games tally to four golds with wins in the 50m freestyle and 200m butterfly.
His 22.47sec beat the six-year-old SEA Games freestyle record, while 1:55.73 in the 200m butterfly lowered the mark he set in 2011 at the age of 16.
Schooling, 19, remains on course for a stunning nine gold medals at Southeast Asia’s Olympics as he sets his sights on a break-out July-August world championships in Russia.
Fans held up signs saying “Joseph you are the best!” as he spearheaded a triumphant night for Singapore in the pool as they grabbed six out of seven golds on offer.
It pushed them way out in front on the medals table with 40 gold medals, 14 ahead of Vietnam with Thailand third and Malaysia fourth on the third day of full competition.
Siblings Quah Zheng Wen and Quah Ting Wen won the men’s 200m backstroke and women’s 100m freestyle — and both in event-record time in the fast Aquatics Centre pool.