Thailand set to extend host domination at Southeast Asian Games

By CHRIS LINES,AP Sports Writer AP - Thursday, December 6NAKHON
RATCHASIMA, Thailand - The curious domination of the Southeast Asian
Games by host nations appears set to continue at the 2007 edition,
which officially opens Thursday in northeast Thailand.


The games may open Thursday, but already a slew of medals have been
awarded in events that preceded the opening ceremonies, and Thailand
leads with 18 gold.

The host nation is targeting 150 gold medals for the games, seeking to
become the fourth consecutive host to dominate following the
Philippines in 2005, Vietnam in 2003 and Malaysia in 2001.

The cause of host domination is moot, but a clue may be gained from
the fact that Thailand was so outraged about officiating that favored
the Philippines in 2005 that it threatened to elevate the issue into a
diplomatic incident.

Thailand won 14 of the 34 gold medals in shooting this week, which
preceded the games proper to avoid a clash with the Asian Shooting
Championships in Kuwait, and won all four golds on offer in aerobics
Wednesday.

Singapore prevented a Thai gold sweep Wednesday by winning gold in the
men's and women's team table tennis.

The 24th SEA Games is being held in the northeastern Thailand city of
Nakhon Ratchasima _ commonly known as Korat _ which has a population
numbering more than 2 million people in the city and surrounding
settlements.

It is the sixth time Thailand has hosted the SEA Games, which is a
biannual event contested between Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, East Timor and
Brunei-Darrusalam.

The first SEA Games in 1959 had 12 sports and 657 athletes, but has
since ballooned to 45 events with 6,541 athletes for the 2007 event.

With the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing beckoning, most attention in
Korat will be on those harboring genuine Olympic medal hopes.

So while the traditional big-ticket sports of multi-event games may be
athletics, swimming, cycling and the like, the major events at the SEA
Games are boxing, taekwondo, weightlifting and badminton where the
cream of regional competitors are world class athletes.

Along with standard multi-event disciplines, the SEA Games also
features the likes of lawn bowls, billiards, bodybuilding, petanque
and rugby.

Disciplines peculiar to the region are also included, such as dragon
boat racing, sepak takraw _ a blend of volleyball and soccer _ the
martial arts of Muay Thai, Wushu, Pencak Silat and Kempo, and even the
traditional Asian board game Go.

There will be 485 gold medals contested. Thailand is expecting big
hauls in athletics, boxing and Muay Thai. It won 87 gold at the 2005
Games.

The Thais have also been boosted by the withdrawal of powerhouse
Malaysia from the sepak takraw competition _ ostensibly in a dispute
over the replacement of traditional rattan balls with rubber-coated
ones _ leaving the hosts as hot favorites for the eight gold medals on
offer.

The Philippines topped the medal table with 113 golds when it hosted
in 2005, but set a target of 70 for this year's event away from the
comforts of home, while Singapore is sending its biggest-ever team,
mostly junior athletes, and is aiming at 45 gold.

Vietnam (which won 70 gold in 2005), Indonesia (64) and Malaysia (62)
are all aiming to at least match their performance from two years ago.

Myanmar's capability is hard to assess, but over the last three games
has won between 10 and 20 gold. Laos, Cambodia, East Timor and Brunei
will be pleased to crack double figures between them.

The lingering ill-feeling between Thailand and the Philippines over
the 2005 officiating will be expressed in the boxing ring, where both
nations have world-class fighters.

At the World Amateur Boxing Championships completed earlier this
month, Thailand collected three medals and the Philippines one, and
the clashes between the two will be especially keen in a sport where
judging is at its most contentious.

In weightlifting, Thailand has a number of competitors expected to
perform strongly in Beijing, while Indonesia is also preparing a
competitive squad ahead of the Olympics.

The event closes on Dec. 15.
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