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Published on October 18, 2007

Phuket

[The Thai team, runners-up in the previous edition in Singapore two years ago, headed into the game still smarting from the upset loss at the hands of the Philippines on Monday.

However, the hosts responded to the defeat with arguably their best performance so far against the reigning SEA Games champions, Malaysia, and proved that the upset was just a blip in form.

The loss to the Philippines side did put pressure on the hosts when they faced their southern neighbours yesterday. However, they rose to the occasion and claimed the victory that would ensure them the top spot in the round robin, which also means easier opponents in the semi-finals.

The loss of injured first-team player Chanontnan Tunsaw dealt an early blow to the Thai team. However, star guard Nanthana Charoenrat, who had struggled to find her form, made light of the setback by scoring an incredible 36-points to inspire the hosts to victory.

With Nanthana in sublime form, victory never seemed in doubt even though the Malaysians managed to level the score at 50 at the end of the third quarter.

Another factor that helped the hosts was the decision to field two centres, Rungarun Puengkoksoong and Naruemol Banmoo, who justified the move by combining to score 19 points.

"We corrected the wrongs in the Philippines match, by rotating players more frequently. It helped. Our key players were fresh throughout enabling them to play better," said Vicharn Chareontham, Thai team assistant coach.

In another match, the Philippines scored a hat-trick of victories by condemning the young Singapore side to their fourth straight defeat 78-59.

Kitinan Sanguansak

 The Nation