Published on May 07, 2005

[ATHLETICS] Home athletes were in dismal form and won just a single gold out of 12 at stake on the final day of the 51st Thailand Open Track and Field Championships yesterday.

Royal Thai Army and TOT-A captured the respective men’s and women’s overall crowns to land the prestigious King’s Cups.

Heavy downpours played havoc on the final day of the competition at the Thammasat Rangsit Main Stadium yesterday, causing athletes to produce below-par performances.

One of the day’s surprises came when the diminutive Saifon Piawong clinched the lone gold for the host country in the women’s 5,000m, which turned out to be an all-Thai affair. Saifon, competing under the TOT-A banner, crossed the line in 18:26.05 minutes.

China, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Taiwan shared two golds apiece yesterday, with Korea taking the remaining gold.

China made it a one-two finish in the women’s 100m yesterday, with Chan Lisha, who was instrumental in lifting the team to victory in the women’s 4x100m relay, storming home first in 11.49 seconds. Teammate Zou Hua settled for the silver in 11.69.

Defending champion Nongnuch Saenrat of Royal Thai Air Force finished in third place with a time of 11.77, while SEA Games gold medallist Oranuch Klomdee was a disappointing fifth in 12.02.

The Chinese quartet of Kai Hu, Jun He, Yang Liu and Bing Du claimed the gold medal in the men’s 4x100m relay.

Vietnamese Do Thi Bong, who claimed the women’s 800m gold medal in the last SEA Games on home soil, proved that she remains one of the strongest competitors for this year’s SEA Games. Do yesterday clocked the fastest time of 2.08 seconds.

Vu Van Huyen won Vietnam’s second gold after making 7,213 points in the men’s decathlon.

Taiwan’s two golds came from the long-striding Wu Wen-Chien, who was timed at 14:50.27 min in the men’s 5,000m, and a men’s quartet which included Yi Wei-Chen and Liu Shih-Hsien in the 4x400m relay, where they clocked an impressive time of 3:10.56 min.

In the men’s shot put, powerful Sergey Rubtsov of Kazakhstan threw 17.45m to win the gold, while Thailand’s Sarayuth Pinitjitr, silver medallist in the last SEA Games, finished a below-par fifth place after hurling 16.62m.

Kazakh Natalya Ivoinstaya took advantage of the absence of Thai-American Trecia Roberts, who has been training intensively in the USA in preparation for this year’s SEA Games in Manila, to emerge as the runaway winner in the women’s 100m hurdles, clearing the field in 13.31 seconds.

Malaysia swept both gold medals in the long jump, with Ngew Siw Mei producing 6.14m in the women’s event and Mohn Sharul Amri Mohd Suhaimi taking the men’s with a leap of 7.69m.

Korean Lee Jae-Hun outclassed all challengers to win the gold medal in the men's 800m, the event where no Thai runners participated. Lee clocked 1.49.54 minute for the title.

Among 43 gold medals up for grabs in the four-day event, Thailand claimed a majority of 13. Taiwan took eight, while Vietnam had six and China and Kazakhstan shared four apiece. Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia took two each and India and Indonesia returned home with one gold each.

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation

Pathum Thani

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