S’pore ‘biggest threat’ to Thais’ bid for relay gold

SINGAPORE — Thailand’s athletics chief Surapong Ariyamongkol has identified Singapore as the biggest threat to his country’s bid to regain the men’s 4x100m relay crown at next month’s South-east Asian Games in Myanmar.

In an interview with TODAY, the former Olympian said the Thailand Athletic Association are determined to regain the gold after finishing a shock fourth at the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia.

“Finishing fourth out of four teams was a blow to our reputation as the region’s relay kings,” said Surapong, referring to the 22 relay golds that Thailand have won since the first South-east Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games in 1959.

“We must win the gold in Myanmar to get our pride back and believe me, we are capable of doing so.”

On paper, the Thais are the favourites to win the event as their season-best time of 39.30 secs is faster than the Singapore national record of 39.45s set Muhammad Elfi Mustapa, Gary Yeo, Lee Cheng Wei and Muhammad Amirudin Jamal in May this year.

But Surapong is not putting much store on the 0.15s advantage as he feels that anything can happen in a one-off encounter on the tarmac.

“Singapore, from what I have seen so far this season, will be our biggest threat,” he said. “They have a set of talented sprinters who have the experience of competing for top honours at previous SEA Games, and they will be hungry for the gold after missing out twice.”

He was referring to Singapore’s second-placed finishes at the 2009 and 2011 SEA Games. The loss at the 2011 Games was particularly bitter for Yeo and company as they had clocked the same time (39.91) as hosts Indonesia but were denied the gold in a photo-finish.

When contacted, national relays coach Melvin Tan agreed that the Thais are the favourites because of their top sprinters’ times this season.

As of last month, Malaysian Open champion Jirapong Meenapra is South-east Asia’s fastest man with 10.37, while Wachara Sondee (10.38) is second. Weerawat Phareaung (10.48) and Ruttanapon Sowan (10.50) are fifth and seventh in the region’s top-10 rankings.

In contrast, only Amirudin (10.46, fourth) and Calvin Kang (10.52, ninth) are in the top 10.

Tan said Singapore will stand a chance of upsetting the Thais if Yeo, who has a personal best of 10.44, can fully recover from his recent hamstring injury.

“If he is fully fit and everything falls into place, we will have a strong chance,” he said.

“We still have one month to go before the SEA Games. But I have a good feeling that we will put up a good show in Myanmar.

“Having said that, Indonesia is also another to watch. We haven’t heard much of their sprinters since 2011, which makes me wonder what they are up to.”