Published on November 29, 2005

Forget that she won Thailand’s first gold medal at the 23rd SEA Games and the Kingdom’s first gold in track and field. Buaban Phamang made an impact beyond any expectations.

The 22-year-old from Chiang Rai was the only one to attempt a throw of more than 50-metres in the women’s javelin yesterday. Buaban then went a step further by throwing a SEA Games record of 55.06m, bettering her previous SEA Games record of 54.80m she set in her debut in Kuala Lumpur in 2001.

She not only won the first gold for Thailand, but also won gold for the third successive time in the region’s biennial sports extravaganza.

It was hot at the Rizal Memorial Track and Field Stadium in Manila yesterday, but the reigning champion and record holder kept her cool and concentrated on every throw. She amazed her rivals with an exceptional throw of 53.66m in the first attempt.

A dropped rhythm in her second attempt saw Buaban clear only 52.35m, but overall she did enough to defeat all four other competitors, including her close rival from Singapore, Chinese-born Zhang Guirong, who is much bigger and taller.

In her third attempt, Buaban cleared a distance of 55.06m - the best in her career and the best at a SEA Games.

Seeing the record tumble, Buaban raised her hands in victory and celebrated with team-mate Pantharee Wijit, whose form was not impressive.

In an effort to break the SEA Games record she has just set, Buaban went on to throw another record of 55.10m at her fourth attempt, only to discover that her throw was a foul. Buaban tried again, but her fifth attempt fell short.

She won the gold medal with her best throw of 55.06m. Filipina Rosie Villarito picked up the silver after covering 49.43m and Zhang, a silver medallist at the last SEA Games, had to be content with the bronze.

“I’m glad to retain the crown. It’s three times in a row now,” said Buaban. “More importantly, it’s a record this time.

“I never thought before that I could make it here. I owe my success to my personal coach from Uzbekistan, Sergey Voynov,” added Buaban, a fourth-year law student at Sri Pathum University.

“I’m proud to be the first athlete to win a SEA Games gold medal for Thailand. My next target is next year’s Asian Games in Qatar. I missed the bus for the previous Asian Games in South Korea because I was suffering from a right shoulder injury.

“I have a dream and hope it can turn into reality.”

Meanwhile, Thailand had a major setback yesterday when they lost their titles in three events - the men’s 110m hurdles, women’s 100m hurdles and women’s 100m.

Suphan Wongsripuek, who won the men’s 110m hurdles with a Games record of 13.92 seconds in Vietnam two years ago, failed to make a mark when he produced a below-par run of 14.36 seconds to finish fourth.

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation

Manila

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