clean lift for hosts

clean lift for hosts
Thais stretch Games haul to 97; Lifters clinch two more gold

Published on December 12, 2007


Fortune smiled on Thailand as they reaped a rich haul of 97 gold to take a commanding lead in the medals count of the Games, as Vietnam trailed in a distant second place overall with 46 golds.

Thai athletes stole the show in athletics capturing 17 golds with eight new Games records in the thrilling five-day meet, which saw 45 gold medals up for grabs.

Thailand and Malaysia shared one gold apiece in the bowling competition, with the host side taking the men's team-of-five event.

In cycling, Thailand bagged two gold medals, with Monrudee Chapookam clinching her second gold in the point race event and Chanpeng Nontasin taking the women's individual pursuit. The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia got one gold each.

Home swordsmen landed the men's saber team title. Singapore and the Philippines took a gold each in women's foil team and men's epee team categories respectively. Laos captured the limelight to win two gold in the judo competition, while Thailand and Vietnam shared one gold apiece.

Siam Thanaporn won the lone gold for the Kingdom in the men's 60kg extra lightweight category. Thailand beat Vietnam 25-20 to clinch the women's handball title, while their billiards and snooker team claimed two gold, with Phaitoon Phonbun taking the men's 6-red snooker singles. The host nation made a clean sweep of both gold in the rugby competition, with the men's team beating the Philippines 28-14 and the women's side taming Singapore 19-5.

Thai lifters clinched two gold on the penultimate day of the weightlifting competition. Pitaya Teebnok brought home the first gold and Suthiporn Wathanakasikam broke the record to defend his title. Pitaya, 18, made his debut in the Games with the gold medal after lifting 143kg in the snatch and 173kg in the clean and jerk in the men's 85kg class.

Rahman Hidayat of Indonesia won the silver with a lift of 302kg, while Nguyen Quoc Hai of Vietnam won the bronze with lifts of 142kg and 172kg.

Suthiporn erased the 155kg-record of Kwanchai Nuchpoom with a 156kg lift in the snatch before lifting 191kg in the jerk.

Three more golds are up for grabs, with the country's fortunes resting on the men's 105kg category.

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation

Nakhon Ratchasima