Published on December 05, 2005

The Thai SEA Games squad stretched their lead over Vietnam yesterday thanks to star striker Teeratep “Leesaw” Winothai, who scored a hat-trick against Vietnam in the soccer final yesterday, while Boonchu Jandacha conquered the hot, polluted streets of Manila to win Thailand’s first SEA Games marathon.

There were also gold medals for Thailand in muay (Thai) and rhythmic gymnastics to leave the Kingdom in second in the medal table behind hosts the Philippines.

The sweetest win of the day for Thailand was in the soccer final, with the team getting their seventh straight Games gold in the sport in their 100th SEA match.

With only four gold medals to be contested on the final day today, the Philippines will certainly win the overall medal tally at the 23rd SEA Games - the first time the country has been overall champions.

Thailand will hang on to second place, leaving defending SEA Games champions Vietnam in third place after the two nations were neck-and-neck at the beginning of the week.

For soccer-mad Thailand, winning the final was the highlight of the biennial event.

Teeratep, also the hero in the semi-final against Indonesia, found the net first in the 43rd minute after following up a deflected header. His second goal came in the 76th minute, with the third sixth minutes later to confirm the seventh crown.

Vietnam last won the gold in 1959 in Bangkok, when the Games were called the Southeast Asian Penin-sular Games. They won silver two years ago when Hanoi played host.

Malaysia, meanwhile, took the bronze, defeating Indonesia 1-0.

Thai coach Chanvit Polchivin praised Vietnam, but said Thailand were the stronger outfit on the day.

“Our team was better today than Vietnam,” he said.

Vietnam’s Austrian coach Alfred Riedl said Thailand’s strikers simply overwhelmed the defence.

“There was no weak point for them. We were under pressure from them for 90 minutes. They are tough and they deserve to win,” he said. “We had no chance to score and they played top-level and they have strong strikers.”

Marathon runner Boonchu yesterday defied the odds to win Thailand’s first ever SEA Games marathon gold medal after stunning local runner and reigning champion Allan Ballester in the gruelling 42.195-kilometre race.

Ballester was the clear favourite after winning the gold medal at the last SEA Games in Vietnam. The second favourite was another Filipino, Roy Vence.

But with 13km to go, Boonchu broke from the pack and never looked back. He was gasping for air when he crossed the finish line after two hours, 29 minutes and 27 seconds, nearly six minutes slower than his third place at the last SEA Games in Vietnam. He then knelt down, kissed the ground and wrapped himself in the Thai flag.

The Nation

Manila

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