Myanmar and Vietnam won two gold medals each at the Southeast Asian Games, as eight finals were decided before the formal opening of the event later yesterday.
Ya Min K-Khine, a 16-year-old from Myanmar, won individual gold in women’s taekwondo, while the country’s sepak takraw women’s team also won a gold. Myanmar also won two silvers and a bronze for a total of five medals to top the table.
Vietnam won two gold medals in taekwondo yesterday, one for men’s team and one for mixed pair.
Thailand, Laos, Philippines and Singapore have bagged one gold each so far.
The Games formally opened yesterday with a cultural extravaganza including dances and songs glorifying the traditions of the landlocked country of 6.8 million people.
LOCAL FLAVOR
The Southeast Asian Games has taken on more of a Southeast Asian flavor over the years, boosting the amount of sports peculiar to the region and popular with fans while downgrading traditional sports in which its nations are less globally competitive.
This year’s event has done away with cycling, basketball, gymnastics, hockey, rowing and weightlifting, while including or retaining dragon boat racing, wushu, Muay Thai, sepak takraw, pencak silat and go.
Athletics will have the biggest number of participants with 288, followed by soccer with 280 players. A total of 4,869 athletes will be vying for the 370 gold, 370 silver and 539 bronze medals on offer.
Taiwan is not competing in the Southeast Asian Games.
SINGAPORE PULLS OUT
Meanwhile, Games chiefs are searching for a new venue for the 2013 edition after Singapore said it would pull out of hosting the event, a report said.
Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper reported that Chris Chan, the country’s National Olympic Council’s secretary-general, on Monday told members of the SEA Games federation council Singapore would withdraw its rights to host the event.
The confirmation came at a meeting of the SEA Games executive committee on Tuesday.
According to the report, the Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam have expressed an interest in hosting the 2013 Games, but a decision will not be made until next year, probably in April, when the council meets again.
Singapore’s decision to pull out of hosting the biennial event follows repeated delays to a S$1.87 billion (US$1.34 billion) Sports Hub, originally scheduled to be completed next year, the report said.
The facility, including a 55,000-seater National Stadium with a retractable roof, would have staged major sports such as swimming, athletics and soccer.
Reports said the project’s delays were because of high construction costs and the global economic downturn.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
RSS