Indonesia’s Suryo Agung Wibowo broke his own Southeast Asian Games 100m record on the first day of track and field yesterday as Thailand pulled clear at the top of the medals table.
On the penultimate night of action in the pool, SEA Games records were smashed in every race, with Singapore notching another two golds, while badminton powerhouses Indonesia and Malaysia shared the team spoils.
Indonesia’s Wibowo ran 10.17 seconds, also knocking 0.03 seconds off the Indonesian national record of 10.20 seconds, yelling: “December 13 is mine” as he celebrated his win in the new 20,000-seat stadium in Laos’ capital.
The Indonesian runner had set the previous SEA Games record of 10.25 seconds in Thailand in 2007.
Thailand took three athletics golds, in the men’s 400m hurdles, triple jump and shot put to help take their overall tally at the Games to 29, four clear of nearest challengers Vietnam.
Narongdech Janjai won the men’s 400m hurdles in 52.49 seconds, Theerayut Philakong took triple jump gold with a jump of 16.51m and Chatchawal Polyiam won the shot put with a throw of 17.59m.
For the Philippines, Arniel Ferrera took gold in the hammer with a throw of 61.62m and Rosie Villarito threw 49.69m to win the women’s javelin.
In other events, Vietnam’s Vu Thi Huong took the women’s 100m in 11.34 seconds, Malaysia’s Noraseela Khalid won the women’s 400m hurdles in 56.99 seconds and Myanmar’s Aung Khaing cruised clear of the field to win the men’s 5,000m in 14 minutes, 43.12 seconds.
Wibowo said he felt confident going into the 100m final, adding he was “very proud and happy” to break both Indonesia’s national record and the SEA Games mark.
“The target from my coaches was the national record of 10.20 seconds and I broke the record, which makes me very happy,” he said.
Women’s 100m winner Vu Thi Huong said she started well, adding: “I’m happy to win the first gold for Vietnam in track and field.”
Singapore, kings of the pool in 2007, took their golds in the women’s 200m freestyle, where Quah Ting Wen won in 2 minutes, 0.57 seconds, and in the women’s 4x100m medley relay in 4 minutes, 10.38 seconds. They now have 12 golds in the pool out of total of 26.
The Philippines’ Daniel Coakley won the 50m freestyle in 22.62 seconds and his compatriot Ryan Arabejo won the men’s 1,500m freestyle.
Malaysia’s Siow Yi Ting took the 200m breaststroke and Thailand’s Nuttapong Ketin secured first place in the men’s 200m breaststroke.
Elsewhere, badminton powerhouses Indonesia and Malaysia battled it out for the honors in the team competitions.
Indonesia recovered from a defeat for Olympics doubles champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan to take the men’s team gold 3-1, but in the women’s competition the scores were reversed, with Malaysia taking the gold by the same score.
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