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
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
RSS