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Published on December 6, 2007

Nakhon Ratchasima

 Thailand stamped their authority in the aerobic gymnastics competition by making a clean sweep of four gold medals yesterday at the His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Stadium.

The monopoly in the individual men, mixed pairs, individual women and trios was a repeat of the last episode in Manila two years ago when the Kingdom's team dominated in all categories.

The Thai harvest began with Roi Ed-born Kittipong Tawinun, who won the individual men's gold medal. In his glittering outfit, Kittipong drew loud cheers from the audiences with an energetic performance that earned him 21.45 points.

"All the hard work paid off for me. I really wanted to win this medal for my dad and would give it to him on Father's Day [December 5],'' said the 23-year-old Physical Education student who also took home the trios gold medal along with Phairach Thotkhamchai and Chanchalak Yiammit.

An estimated Bt600,000 incentive from the government and the gymnastics association is expected to add more cheer for Kittipong. The north-easterner will now be able to realise his dream of buying a house for his parents in Roi Ed.

Kittipong's is one of the stories of this SEA Games as one  who was forced to give up standard gymnastics in 2005 because of hepatitis.

The silver went to compatriot Phairach who scored 21.10 while Tien Phuong Nguyen of Vietnam took the bronze with 19.80.

In the mixed pairs event which saw only three nations participating, the local duo of Nattawut Pimpa and Roypim Ngampeerapon and Vu Ba Dong and Tran Thi Thu Ha of Vietnam shared the top spot with a score of 20.20 points. The silver went to Indonesia.

"I didn't expect to win because we just started paring last month. Vietnam is a tough team. It's always been a close fight every time we compete,'' said Nattawut who won the trios gold medal in the last Games.

Roypim later returned to the stage and produced a sparkling performance in the individual women to earn gold medal with her personal best of 20.60 points.

"It's the highest score I've ever had. I'm so happy to beat the Vietnamese athlete by a big margin,'' said the Kasetsart University student who was followed by Phuong Thanh Nguyen, 19.65, and compatriat Suwadee Phrutichai, 19.30.

Thailand's big feat was accomplished after wrapping up the day with the trios gold medal with a score of 20.6 points. Vietnam and Indonesia finished second and third with 20.15 and 19.80 respectively.

Bulgarian Desilava Bosgusheva, who has been coaching the Thai team for four years, was the one behind the success. "We live together, we work together and we deserved to win all. The results keep getting better and I hope one day we will have a better ranking in the world,'' said the former gymnast. The Thai team are now ranked eighth in the world.

 The Nation