A coup of sorts is under way in dirt poor, Communist-ruled Laos: Contrary to dire predictions, it is staging the biggest sporting event in its history to rave reviews.
And in the process, it is hoping to hoist itself up a few rungs from its lowly position on the international sports ladder.
With the 11-nation Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in its final phase, assessments by coaches, athletes and officials of the event’s facilities, organization and sporting spirit have been uniformly positive, if not ecstatic.
PHOTO: EPA
This in a country which ranks among the world’s poorest (No. 176 of 210 on the World Bank’s list), sent only four athletes to last year’s Beijing Olympics (the International Olympic Committee paid for their tracksuits and plane tickets) and where until not long ago runners trained in a dung-strewn stadium that doubled as a cattle grazing ground.
“Terrific. I can’t find any faults with these games,” said Frantisek Petrovic, the Slovak coach of Malaysia’s track team at the new 20,000-seat main stadium, ringed by forests and farms on Vientiane’s outskirts.
“It is natural they are apprehensive and nervous but at the same time they are so disciplined and open to change and advice,” said Rabi Rajkarnikar, a technical official with the Asian Athletics Association monitoring the games. “They listen and are willing to run around and make changes. They have all the equipment for other championships in the future. They are doing fantastically well.”
Doubts were initially expressed that Laos, starting with virtually no facilities or experience, could stage the 25th version of the biennial event. While hardly Olympian in scale, the games have brought together 4,800 athletes from a region of 600 million people.
To the ire of Malaysian Sports Minister Seri Ismail Sabri Yakob — who predicted the Vientiane games would turn into a “full-fledged circus” — Laos scaled down the number of sports to 28 from a bloated 43 at the last games in Thailand.
While the number conforms to the Olympic standard — 26 are currently recognized as official sports at summer games — it excludes such mainstream sports as basketball, gymnastics and sailing. Added were dubious ones like petanque, the French version of lawn bowls which harkens back to Laos’ colonial past. The landlocked nation retained beach volleyball, hauling sand in from the banks of the Mekong River.
Organizers then sought help from their friends. Vietnam financed the US$19 million athletes village, Thailand provided technical expertise and more funding came from Japan, South Korea and Brunei.
In a deal still shrouded by controversy and secrecy, China built the US$100 million main stadium complex in exchange for a lease on land near Vientiane to construct an entire satellite city. Angry rumors that thousands of Chinese would settle there forced the government to scale down the project.
“SEA Games fever leads me to believe Lao sports will improve,” said Somsavat Lengsavad, the organizing committee chairman, failing to mention that public enthusiasm for the games has far outstripped that exhibited at events staged to celebrate communism.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
Taiwan yesterday defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ farm team 5-1 in their final warm-up game ahead of their World Baseball Classic (WBC) Pool C opener. Taiwan’s bullpen used an unconventional rotation, with a different pitcher throwing each inning for the first seven innings. Together, they combined for eight strikeouts while allowing only four hits. The lone run surrendered came in the bottom of the eighth inning after a pitcher from Japan’s independent league took the mound. The pitching strategy was designed to preserve the arms of the Taiwanese ahead of their game against Australia at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow morning. Taiwanese-American Stuart Fairchild
RSS