Women's regu win takes Thailand's takraw gold tally to four
Thailand have consistently dominated sepak takraw and it was no different yesterday, as they defeated Myanmar 2-0 in the women's regu final at Singapore Expo.
That took their sepak takraw gold-medal haul to four. The only honours that eluded them were the chinlone same stroke and chinlone non-repetition primary won by Myanmar, and the chinlone linking won by Cambodia.
With Singapore and Thailand neck and neck in the race to be kings of the 28th SEA Games, the gold rush from sepak takraw could swing the crown towards Thailand.
Speaking to The New Paper through a translator, captain Wanwisa Jankaen said: "I feel so happy and proud that I am able to win a gold medal for my country.
"There are still two more events, so I hope we can win the golds in those as well and then also win the SEA Games."
The women's regu win boosted Thailand's medal tally to 78 golds, four above Singapore. Malaysia won the men's regu gold, with Singapore second, and Laos and the Philippines joint-third.
The men and women's doubles are still up for grabs.
Thailand's head coach Veeras Na Nongkhai said: "Of course we expected to win the final because for the past six months we've been in camp, without phones or computers.
"We just train very hard. So we are happy we won today."
He is also confident that Thailand will finish top of medal tally, though it'll will be close.
He said: "I think we can beat Singapore to more gold medals but it will be close.
"Singapore are also good, so they will definitely give a challenge. But I think we can win more gold, from football and badminton too."
In the past five Games, Thailand have only been bested twice - in 2005 in the Philippines and 2011 in Palembang. Both times, the hosts prevailed.
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