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Saturday, December 03, 2005
Thais criticize refs in finals loss
By Glenn C. Michelena
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
The road to the sepak takraw regu gold – once projected to endure a major traffic jam – turned out to be an easy route for the Thais and Malaysians after all.
Thailand easily captured the Women’s gold by going undefeated in the competitions, while Malaysia opened some eyes when it drubbed mighty Thailand in straight sets, 21-11, 21-14 yesterday at the University of San Carlos Gym.
RP teams
The Philippines, meanwhile, bowed out of the competitions without a medal to show in the regu events, after its Women’s squad suffered a heartbreaking three-set loss, 17-21, 21-16, 9-15, to Indonesia in the battle for one of two bronze medals at stake.
Thailand walloped Myanmar, 21-12, 21-13, in its final assignment yesterday morning to automatically clinch the gold. The Thai Women stood head over heels over their foes with a 4-0 mark, besting 3-1 Vietnam for the gold.
In stark contrast to the smooth title run of the Thai girls, Malaysia’s awesome domination of Thailand in the Men’s gold-medal match triggered a violent reaction from Thailand.
The coaching staff of Thailand furiously protested – and berated – the referees and technical committee of the event. The irate Thais accused the committee, majority of which were Malaysians, for its alleged partiality to the Malaysian team.
Not partial
No formal protest, however, was filed by the Thais.
“I can assure you that the referees were not partial to the Malaysians, or to any other team in this competition,” said International Sepak Takraw Federation Acting President Dato Ahmad Ismail, a Malaysian himself. “No country is getting special treatment.”
After the regu event medals were handed out in the morning, the last event of the sepak takraw competitions, the double regu event, got underway yesterday afternoon with the Philippine Men’s squad off to a terrific start.
The Filipinos posted a 19-21, 21-13, 15-13 win over Singapore in the opening match of the event.
(December 3, 2005 issue)
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