Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Thailand will be aiming to claim a double victory in the team finals at the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
While the Thai men’s team face off against Vietnam in the match play final on Saturday, the country’s women’s team take on Indonesia at Phnom Penh’s Garden City Golf Club.
In Friday’s semi-final, Thailand’s male trio of Ratchanon ‘TK’ Chantananuwat, Jiradech Chaowarat and Arsit Areephun all won their matches in a 3-0 defeat of Malaysia, avenging their loss to the Malaysians in last year’s final.
Meanwhile, Eila Galitsky and Navaporn Soontreeyapas both emerged triumphant in their women’s semi-final against hosts Cambodia, giving them a golden opportunity of retaining the gold medal they won in Vietnam in 2022.
Having missed out on an individual medal for the second year in succession, Ratchanon, in particular, will be anxious to strike gold.
A winner on the Asian Tour last year, Ratchanon is 27th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), the highest ranked player in the field.
However, the Thais will be wary of a Vietnamese team that has surpassed all expectations.
In the individual event, 14-year-old Le Khanh Hung, 533rd in the WAGR, upstaged his more illustrious rivals to clinch the gold medal while Nguyen Anh Minh took the bronze.
Having comfortably seen off Laos in the men’s team quarter-finals on Thursday, the Vietnamese were pushed hard by Indonesia in the semi-final, eventually prevailing 2-1.
The Indonesian men will now go up against Malaysia in the bronze medal play-off.
The Indonesian women’s team of Elaine Widjaja and Holly Halim also needed extra time after their semi-final contest with Malaysia ended 1-1. Unlike their male counterparts, they succeeded in progressing to the gold medal match.
Malaysia, represented by individual gold and bronze medallists Ng Jing Xuen and Foong Xi Yu, will go up against Cambodia for the team bronze.
For Thailand, Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion Galitsky is seeking a second successive team gold.
Having had to content herself with the individual silver medal this year after being edged out by Malaysian Ng in a play-off, Galitsky will be determined to end her 2023 SEA Games campaign on a high.
