Thailand crowned Asian Beach Games champions

PHUKET: Thailand closed the final day of the 4th Asian Beach Games in Phuket yesterday with two more gold medals in the beach sepak takraw to be crowned official Games champions for the second time with a haul of 56 gold, 37 silver and 33 bronze medals.

Defending champions China placed second overall, with 16 gold, 11 silver and 21 bronze medals. Third place went to South Korea, with 9 gold, 14 silver and 14 bronze medals, while Iran (9-14-8) and Vietnam (8-12-10) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

On the final day of competition, Thailand won gold in both the men’s and the women’s regu beach sepak takraw.

Iran won gold in the men’s team kabaddi final, while India claimed gold in the women’s event.

Indonesia’s men’s beach volleyball squad won gold for their nation, as Kazakhstan won the women’s beach volleyball title.

On Saturday, a clean sweep of three gold medals in beach athletics and the in-form Muay Thai fighters helped Thailand maintain their stranglehold on the medal stakes.

Talented Thitima Muangjan, the triple jump bronze medallist at the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010, made the country proud by producing an impressive jump of 5.52 meters to hand Thailand the day’s first gold in the women’s long jump event.

National sprinters Phatsorn Jaksuninkorn and Nongnuch Sanrat, who helped Thailand win the 4x100m relay at the Guangzhou Games, gave the country the second gold in the women’s 4x60m relay in 29.97 seconds. The men’s relay team, strengthened by the presence of SEA Games triple gold medalist Jirapong Meenapra, gave the hosts the third gold with a time of 27.17 seconds.

Thailand’s fourth gold on Saturday came from the women’s handball team, which downed Taiwan 17-12, 13-12 in the final showdown.

Muay Thai, which had 16 gold medals up for grabs on Saturday, kicked off the finals with the hosts capturing the first three gold medals through Rattanaphon Hanphan in the women’s 48kg light flyweight, Suepphong Phromduea in the men’s 48kg light flyweight and Armon Phonkratok in the men’s 61kg flyweight events.

A total of 57.73 million baht will be paid out to all Thai medalists, their coaches and the sports associations they represent.

The National Sports Development Fund stands to pay out a total of 39.3mn baht to Thai athletes who won medals at the games: 200,000 baht to each gold medalist, 100,000 baht to each silver medalist and 50,000 baht to each bronze medalist.

Meanwhile, Thai sports associations whose athletes won medals are to receive a total of 11.79mn and coaches of Thai medalists will receive payouts totaling 6.64mn baht.

Each Thai sports association whose athletes won medals will receive 30 per cent of the prize money the athletes will receive, while coaches for individual players and for the team events with up to six athletes will each receive 20 per cent of the prize money to be given to the athletes. Coaches for the individual players and for the team events with more than seven athletes will receive 10 per cent of the prize money that the athletes will be given.

The Phuket Gazette is proud to have been selected as the sole English-language media sponsor for the 2014 Asian Beach Games being held in Phuket (story here).

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