HANOI, Vietnam, 10 December 2003 — Thailand moved into position to win its sixth consecutive Southeast Asian Games soccer gold medal.
Now it faces the home team in a nation that has gone mad over success, especially yesterday’s last-minute victory.
While Vietnam is far ahead in the games’ overall medals race, it is soccer that has sent thousands of flag-waving fans crisscrossing the capital on motorcycles in long, noisy celebrations.
Vietnam, a losing finalist to Thailand in the 1999 games, advanced with a 4-3 victory over Malaysia, the Thais’ victims in the 2001 final. It let a 3-1 lead slip away on 86th- and 88th-minute goals before winning on Phan Thanh Binh’s goal in the first minute of injury time.
Thailand beat Myanmar 2-0 on two goals by Sarayoot Thongmaen, who gained his chances when a teammate missed a shot and when a defender’s attempt to clear went astray.
In the swimming pool, Joscelin Yeo anchored a Singapore medley relay quartet to victory, collecting her fifth gold medal of these games and 14th in three games.
The Thais, meanwhile, won three races and Ratapong Sirisanont became a quadruple gold medalist, joining Malaysia’s Lim Keng Liat. But they couldn’t gain on Vietnam in the total golds column. The hosts had 73, including eight won yesterday — three in shooting, two each in canoeing and handball, and one in diving.
The Vietnamese winnings were more than double their total of 33 in 2001, when they finished fourth behind host Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Thailand had 36. Its victories yesterday also included two shooting events and one in petanque, a kind of bowling.
Indonesia edged up to third in golds with 26. Cyclist Santia Tri Kusuma won her second road race of these games, canoe and kayak racers provided four golds, Muhamad Junarto beat compatriot Nurdin 11-7 in 9-ball pool, and weightlifters added two.
Jadi Setiadi won in the men’s 56-kilogram class with a total lift of 270 kilograms, and Gustar Junianto won at 62 kilograms with a total of 290.
Malaysia had 23 after taking the women’s rhythmic gymnastics team gold, the Philippines had 22 and Singapore 17.
Filipino diver Ryan Rexel Fabriga became a double gold medalist. Fabriga, winner of the men’s 10-meter platform event, joined Jaime Asok for victory in the synchronized platform diving.
Vietnam’s Mai Thi Hai Yen, who teamed with Hoang Thanh Tra, added gold in the women’s 3-meter springboard synchronized diving to her earlier solo victory.
Laos won its first gold of the games, matching its 2001 total, when Khamvongsa Soulasith and Sengdao Saysamone beat Cambodians Hou Hoeun and Ros Bunly 13-2 in the men’s doubles final of petanque.
Thailand’s Thongsri Thamakord and Boonyoum Kamsawaung won the women’s final 13-4 over Cambodia’s Ke Leng and Duch Sophorn.
Myanmar lifted its total to four golds with a victory in four-man kayaks and Kay Thi Win’s triumph in 48-kilogram weightlifting with a total of 200.
Swimmer Ratapong led a 1-2 Thai finish in the men’s 200 breaststroke, teammate Arwut Chinnapasaen edged Malaysia’s Allen Ong 23.33 to 23.69 in the 50 freestyle, and Pilin Tachakittiranan won her second gold of the games by coming from slightly behind in the last 50 meters to beat Myanmar’s Moe Thu Aung in the women’s 200 freestyle.
Malaysia’s Siow Yi Ting completed a sweep of the women’s breaststroke races by winning the 200.
Filipino Miguel Mendoza won the men’s 1,500 freestyle by nearly seven seconds over Thailand’s Charnvudth Saengsri, who beat him in the 400.
Indonesian cyclist Kusuma, winner of the 30.6-kilometer criterium race earlier in the games, edged Thailand’s Monrudee Chapookam by 0.72 seconds for victory in the 90-kilometer mass start event.
She finished in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 46.34 seconds on roads in Hoa Binh, 76 kilometers (47.5 miles) southwest of Hanoi.
Sayadin collected gold for Indonesia in both the one- and two-man kayak races on Hanoi’s West Lake, joining with Laode Hadi in the two-man. Roinadi and Asnawir won their two-man canoe race by just 0.48 seconds over Win Httke and Aung Lin of Myanmar, which collected five silver medals from the day’s seven 1,000-meter races.
Sarce Aronggear and Suhartati, another Indonesian who uses only one name, won in two-woman kayaks.
For Thailand, Tavarit Majcharcheep won the men’s 10-meter air rifle shooting with 694 to 692.8 for Singapore’s Ong Jun Hong, and helped the Thais take the team title too.
Vietnam won three more shooting golds, lifting its total to 20 in 28 events.
But Malaysia’s Nurul Hudda Baharin won the women’s 50-meter rifle three-position shooting, and Malaysia also won the team competition when Vietnam was disqualified. The Philippines won the men’s trap team competition.
Vietnam also took both handball golds, beating Thailand 37-26 for the men’s and 15-14 for the women’s.
The hosts had given their total a boost late Monday by winning six of the eight Greco-Roman wrestling divisions. The Philippines won two.
