Staged in Jakarta, Indonesia from Tuesday 21st to Friday 24th October 2008; Thailand’s Nanthana Komwong emerged as the most successful player at the South East Asian Championships.
On duty at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Athens and Beijing, the fast attacking skills of the right handed 28 year old saw her clinch gold in both the Women’s Team and Women’s Singles events.
Alongside Laksika Thongsub and Priyakan Trampo; Nanthana Komwong remained unbeaten in the Women’s Team event as she steered her country to a semi-final success over Singapore and a final victory against Malaysia.
Against Singapore she beat both Sylvia Look and Zena Sim with Priyakan Trampo winning the vital duel with the match score level at two-all against Sylvia Look; the Thailand girl succeeding 12-10 in the decisive fifth game.
The Singaporean wins came from Zena Sim against Priyakan Trampo and from Kwa Hui Qi at the expense of Laksika Thongsub.
Backbone of Success
In the final it was once again Nanthana Komwong who was the backbone of success.
She beat Ng Sock Khim and Beh Lee Wei in the contest against Malaysia. Thailand won by three matches to one with Beh Lee Wei defeating Laksika Thongsub to record the one Malaysian success and Priakan Trampo overcoming Chiu Soo Jin in the third match of the duel.
Dominant Mood
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Singles event Nanthana Komwong was in dominant mood, surrendering only one game en route to victory; that being in the semi-finals against Malaysia’s Ng Sock Khim.
Otherwise, it was a series of straight games wins. In the quarters she beat Singapore’s Zena Sim whilst at the final hurdle she overcame Malaysia’s Beh Lee Wei. At the penultimate stage, Beh Lee Wei had beaten top seed, Indonesia’s Christine Ferlina.
Host Nation Gold
Success for Thailand and also there was success for the host nation, Vietnam; they were totally dominant in the Men’s Team event where the trio of Doan Kien Quoc, Dinh Quang Linh and Nguyen Nam Hai recorded three-nil semi-final and final victories.
At the penultimate stage they beat Thailand’s Sithichok Vipawatanakul, Chanakan Udomsilp and Tanawat Vipawatanul before overcoming Indonesia’s M. Khoiruddin, Fick Supi Santoso and Gilang Maulana to secure gold.
More Titles for Vietnam
The victory was one of three gold medals for Vietnam; the others coming in the Mixed Doubles and Men’s Doubles events.
In the Mixed Doubles an all-Vietnamese final saw Nyguyen Nam Hai and Mai Hoang My Trang beat Doan Kiec Quoc and Luong Thi Tam; the respective beaten semi-finalists being Indonesia’s Gilang Maulana and Nuni Sugiani plus Malaysia’s Muhd Shakirin and Beh Lee Wei.
Similar
Similarly, in the Men’s Doubles it was an all-Vietnamese final with Doan Kiec Quoc and Dinh Quang Linh emerging as champions; the pair overcoming Nyguyen Nam Hai and Tran Tuan Quynh in the final.
At the semi-final stage Nyguyen Nam Hai and Tran Tuan Quynh beat Malaysia’s Muhd Shakrin and Chai Kian Beng, whilst Doan Kiec Quoc and Dinh Quang Linh overcame Henberd Ortalla and Richard Gonzales of the Philippines.
Men’s Singles
Defeat for Richard Gonzales but there was better news in the Men’s Singles event; he won gold defeating Vietnam’s Nguyen Nam Hai in the final, having overcome Malaysia’s Muhd Shakirin in the semi-finals and Indonesia’s Harui Dahlan in the quarter-finals.
An impressive performance by the man from the Philippines and it was the same from Nguyen Nam Hai en route to the final. In the quarter-finals he overcame Indonesia’s Gilang Maulana who had impressed in 2007 on the ITTF World Junior Circuit before ousting top seed, Vietnam’s Doan Kien Quoc in the semi-finals.
Malaysian Gold
One gold medal for the Philippines and there was one gold medal for Malaysia; Beh Lee Wei and Ng Sock Khim beat Vietnam’s Mai Xuan Hang and Mai Hoang My Trang to capture gold.
The bronze medallists were Indonesia’s Nuni Sugiani and Nur Azizah plus Singapore’s Zena Sim and Sylvia Look.
Source: www.ittf.com
