The Thai sporting juggernauts racked up a total of 12 gold medals, compared to Indonesia’s mere three, to solidify their position at the top of the provisional standings.
Indonesia’s gold came from pencak silat, track and field, and swimming.
At Wunna Theikdi Aquatic Stadium, Triady clocked the fastest time of 23.12 seconds to win his second gold medal in the pool.
Russel Ong Kaiyi of Singapore and Alexander Lewis Gavin of Thailand won silver and bronze with 23.14 and 23.41 seconds, respectively.
“I’m happy, but I’m not satisfied with my time because I could not surpass my best time of 22.88 seconds set at the Islamic Solidarity Games [in September],” he said after the medal ceremony.
His first gold was earned in the men’s 100-meter freestyle two days ago when he set a new SEA Games record.
His time of 49:99 seconds was an improvement on the previous score of 50:16 set by Daniel William Henry Bego of Malaysia in 2009 in Laos.
Triady said he needed to improve his level of fitness before competing at his next targeted competition — the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, next year.
“I will continue to train in order to improve my time. My next shot will be at the Asian Games,” he said.
Thailand holds the top position with 45 gold, 41 silver and 40 bronze medals followed by Myanmar (38, 31, 35), Vietnam (36, 32, 41) and Indonesia (33, 47, 44).
In pencak silat, debutant Muhammad Adnan, who competed in the 55-60 kilogram match category, brought home Indonesia’s only gold on the last day of the pencak silat competition after defeating host athlete Ye Kyaw Thu.
He outscored his opponent 4:1.
Adnan expressed his happiness, saying that he dedicated his first gold medal to his family, coach and the nation.
“I won a gold medal in my very first SEA Games event,” said the 21-year-old student from Tadulako, Central Sulawesi.
The team failed to meet the target of six gold medals, but was still the overall champion in the event, with a total of four golds, four silver and three bronze followed by Vietnam with four gold, four silver and two bronze.
Hendro was Indonesia’s only gold medalist in the track and field, which commenced with nine gold medals on offer on Sunday.
Hendro won the men’s 20-kilometer race walk, four minutes ahead of Vietnam’s Xuan Vinh Ho, who clocked 1:33:30. Myanmar’s Myo Min Thiha grabbed the bronze with 1:36:18.
Fellow Indonesian Hermanto took the bronze in the men’s discus throw after recording a 51.96-meter pitchout.
Malaysia’s Muhammad Irfan topped the event with 53.16 meters, followed by Narong Benjaroon of Thailand with 52.45 meters.
In the men’s 400-meter race, Edy Ariansyah also won bronze after clocking 47.78 seconds. He was outpaced by the Philippines’ Archand Christian Bagist and Edgardo Alejan who seized gold and silver with 47.22 and 47.45 seconds,
respectively.
“Regardless of the medal, this is my first SEA Games so I’m happy with that,” Edy said.
“The competition was quite tough and the Philippine athlete is the best time holder,” he said.
In the cycling road race, Robin Manulang completed the course in the 50-kilometer Individual Time Trial in one hour, seven minutes and 38.294 seconds to finish at second place behind Philippine cyclist Mark John Lexer P Galedo.
“The outcome of the race was not as we predicted. We initially checked the racers from Thailand and Vietnam, but it was the Filipinos who broke through to the front,” Robin said after the medal presentation ceremony.
The other Indonesian cyclists, Ryan Areihaan, languished at fourth place.
Yanthi Fuchiyanti also failed to overtake her opponents and had to be content with the bronze in the women’s 30-kilometer ITT, behind Singapore’s Slew Kheng Dinah Chan.
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