Plain sailing as Keerati, Ek, Navin and Siriporn take gold

Thai sailors clinched four gold medals out of the possible nine in the sailing competition of the SEA Games in Indonesia yesterday.

At Ancol Marina in Jakarta, teenager Keerati Bualong, who hails from Nakhon Pathom and who produced consistent performance throughout, won the last two races to claim the title in the men's Laser Class Radial division.

Keerati, the 19-year-old, never finished outside the top two in nine out of 10 races, which saw him finish with a nine-point win over Malaysia' Mohd Romzi Mohamad. Choo Jian Jie of Singapore completed the podium.

Fourteen-year-old Sarawut Phetsiri and a 15-year-old girl Kamolwan Chanyim had to settle for the runners-up spot in the Optimist Class Open and women's Laser Class Radial divisions respectively.

The Chon Buri native, Sarawut, had to play second fiddle to Singapore's Elisa Yukie, who finished first in all but one race, throughout the contest. Ahmad Syukri of Malaysia claimed the bronze.

However, it was a close duel between Kamolwan and Chan Jing Hua of Singapore, who recovered from a disqualification in the first race before edging the Thai to the gold medal by a five-point margin. Malaysia's Nur Amirah Binti ended up in the third spot.

Singaporean duo Liu Xiaodan and Tan Li Ching produced a near blemish free record by winning all but one out of 10 races on their way to the title in women's International 470 Class, leaving Thai pair Narisara Yusawat and Yupa Suwannawat content with only the bronze.

Thailand scored a hat-trick of gold medals in windsurfing event, with Navin Singsrart's triumph in the men's Mistral OD Man division the most impressive one.

Trailing behind favourite Oka Sulaksana of Indonesia after three days of racing, Navin saved his best for the last by winning the final two races, which drew him level on points with the veteran Indonesian.

With the two finishing either first or second in identical numbers, the race was decided on the result of the final round and the title went to the 23-year-old Thai.

Thailand made a clean sweep in the RSX division, with Ek Boonsawad, who led the way from the opening day, and a 17-year-old girl Siriporn Kaewduang-ngam being crowned in men's and women's categories respectively.