Taekwondo and rowing power Thailand’s dominant medal run

Powered by title-winning exploits from the taekwondo and rowing teams, Thailand widened their lead at the top of the medal standings by raking in another remarkable haul of 18 gold medals at the 33rd SEA Games on Thursday.

Thailand’s taekwondo team got their campaign off to a scorching start by clinching three of the four titles on offer.

Patcharakan Poolkerd set the tone with an easy win over Filipino exponent Clarence Sarza to secure the women’s 46kg crown.

Cho Chaichon then faced a far sterner challenge from Malaysia’s Muhammad Syafiq Zuber in the men’s 87kg category. After trailing in the opening round of the decider, the Thai fell short in his attempt to stage a fightback, losing 10-5.

With his back against the wall, Cho switched to attack mode and raced to a 6-0 lead before sealing an 8-3 victory to force a decisive third round.

The final remained scoreless with only a minute to go before Cho made a crucial breakthrough in the dying seconds to secure a heart-pounding win, igniting loud cheers from jubilant home fans at Fashion Island Shopping Mall.

The withdrawal of a Cambodian fighter left only two athletes in the women’s 67kg class, effectively turning the matchup between Piyachutrutai Chareewan and Myanmar’s Kay Thwe Mon Lin into the final. Piyachutrutai won both rounds with ease.

Things also started promisingly for the hosts in mixed martial arts — a demonstration sport — after Kanjutha Phattaraboonsorn claimed the women’s 54kg title in emphatic fashion with a first-round knockout of Indonesia’s Vallensia Fahira.

In extreme sports, Thai athletes made a big splash with double gold in the wake surf team and wakeboard team events at Rabbit Lake in Bangkok’s Nong Chok district.

With scores calculated based on the three best athletes per team, the Thai wake surf squad — comprising Songkrod Jomboon, Patrick Wongwut Macarthur, Kantita Chayliam and Annissa Tita Flynn — coasted to a dominant win with a combined total of 240 points, well ahead of Indonesia (144) and Malaysia (128), who took silver and bronze respectively.

“Very happy with the team’s win. We have trained since the start of the year and faced many obstacles. Thank you for all the support. We all tried to do our best,” said Songkrod.

Thailand also secured their first snooker gold after the women’s team led by World No. 1 Nutcharut “Ming” Wongharuthai swept Indonesia 3-0 in the final.

“We play for ourselves on the world tour, but at the Games we compete for the team and the country. Mentally, this tournament means much more. I’m very happy to play at the Games on home soil,” said the 26-year-old Nutcharut.

Gymnast Tikumporn Surintornta admirably ended the Kingdom’s 10-year wait for a SEA Games gold in gymnastics, finally breaking through at his fourth attempt in the men’s floor event.

Tikumporn Surintornta

Having finished runner-up in his previous three attempts, Tikumporn delivered an outstanding performance at Thammasat University’s Rangsit Campus to claim the historic gold with a score of 14.000.

Thailand’s last gymnastics gold at the biennial Games came a decade ago, when Ratchawat Kaewpanya won the men’s pommel horse in Singapore.

After securing three golds on Wednesday, the Thai rowing team went one better with four titles on the second day of competition.

Yutthakan Chaidet kicked things off with victory in the men’s canoe single slalom, followed by Jaruwan Niamthong in the women’s kayak single slalom. Wins in the men’s kayak double 200m and men’s canoe double 200m events completed the hosts’ impressive outing.

In men’s 3x3 basketball, Thailand edged Singapore 21-18 to clinch their second SEA Games title, following their maiden triumph in Vietnam.

Elsewhere, the Thai men’s football team sealed the top spot in Group A with a perfect record after an impressive 3-0 win over Singapore, courtesy of a brace from Yotsakorn Burapha and a strike from Siraphop Wandee.

The Thai women’s volleyball team achieved a similar feat, sweeping the Philippines 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-16) to secure their semifinal berth as Group A winners.

As of press time, Thailand’s 19-gold haul on Thursday tightened their grip on the top of the medal table with 37 golds, 22 silvers and 13 bronzes.

Vietnam, the 2023 overall champions, moved up to second but remained far behind with 12 golds, closely followed by Indonesia with 11.