KORAT, Thailand (AFP) — Vietnam and the Philippines dominated the track-and-field events here Saturday while Singapore and Vietnam reached the semi-finals of the SEA Games football competition.
Vietnam and the Philippines shared seven golds between them in a day that saw four Games records fall.
In the football tournament, Malaysia drew 1-1 with Singapore and Vietnam beat Laos 2-1, meaning Vietnam top group B with six points, followed by Singapore on five.
Vietnam won four golds -- both the men's and women's 800 metres, the men's decathlon and the women's high jump.
The Philippines took the men's hammer throw, the men's 3000m steeplechase and the women's long jump.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd, Arniel Ferrera of the Philippines broke his own Games record of 60.47 metres in throwing the hammer 60.98m for victory.
In the women's 800m, Truong Thanh Hanh set a new Games mark of 2:02.39 mins and in the women's 5000m Indonesia's Triyaningsih won in 15:54.32, breaking the previous record by more than 14 seconds.
In the men's decathlon, Vietnam's Van Huyen Vu set a new Games record, scoring a total of 7457 points.
Defending champion Rene Herrera of the Philippines, who won the 3000m steeplechase, said he had been training at altitude to prepare for the conditions in Korat.
"It was very difficult, they gave me a good fight," the 28-year-old said of his rivals.
Dinh Cuong Nguyen, who won the men's 800 metres for Vietnam, was happy with his tactics in the race, biding his time before hitting the front.
"The support I get from Vietnam gives me strength," said the runner, 25, who had identified second-placed Midel Dique from the Philippines as a threat.
In other results, Malaysia took the men's 4x400m relay gold and Thailand won the women's race.
The Philippines' Marestella Torres won the long jump, leaping 6.31m and Vietnam's Bui Thi Nhung jumped 1.88m to win the women's high jump. The women's discus was won by Indonesia's Dwi Ratanawati, who threw 50.05m.
Bidding for 150 golds, Thailand currently top the table with 43, ahead of Vietnam on 23 and Singapore on 16. The host nation dominated the first day of track and field action Friday, winning six out of nine golds on a day when five Games record were broken.
In their football match with Singapore, Malaysia took the lead through Mohammed Amirulhadi Zainal midway through the second half, but Singapore hit back through substitute Agu Casmir and Malaysia could not force the winner that would have taken them through.
In the Vietnam-Laos clash, Laos took the lead through Maosingto Lam on 16 minutes but Vietnam scored twice before half-time through Cung Doan Viet and Phan Thanh Binh to seal the match.
Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic said his side had made it difficult for themselves by not taking their chances.
"We made more problems for ourselves because in the first half we didn't score... but it's very important to get to the semi-finals," he said.
Myanmar play Vietnam and Thailand meet Singapore, ASEAN champions at senior level, on Tuesday, with the final scheduled for next Friday.
In the swimming pool Saturday evening, Singapore took two golds, in the men's 100m freestyle and in the women's 100m breaststroke, in which Nicolette Teo set a new Games record.
Malaysia's Khoo Cai Lin set a new Games mark in the women's 400m freestyle and Thailand broke their own record in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay. Other golds went to the Philippines and Vietnam.
Eleven nations are chasing more than 470 gold medals at the 24th SEA Games in more than 40 sports.
SEA Games participants are Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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