Sepaktakraw: Vietnam queens, Thailand kings

Vietnam walked away with the first Asian Games double gold medal in sepaktakraw after taming Myanmar 2-0 in the women's double final at Al-Sadd Sports Club.

The doubles gold joins the women's team gold and the regu silver to establish Vietnam's women as a giant among sepaktakraw squads. In the men's doubles, the Thais easily defeated Malaysia, Asian No 2, to take that gold.

The Vietnamese starlets were more confident from the start than Kyu Kyu Thin and May Zin Phyo of Malaysia, though Hai Thao Nguyen and Thi Thanh Luu of Vietnam looked tired from a long campaign. But as in previous matches, a renewed sense of confidence has always been instrumental in making them claw back from the brink of defeat.

Vietnam were all over Myanmar in the first set and their power and consistency the key to the 21-16 win. While Nguyen was flawless with her spikes Phyo, her Malaysian counterpart, was erratic with hers.

Despite a hard fight by Myanmar in the second set, Nguyen and Luu went on to seal the match 21-16 and claim the first Asian Games double event gold medal.

After the match Ha Tung Lap, the ecstatic Vietnamese coach, told reporters, "I dedicate this win to all the people back home in Vietnam and all the Vietnamese people around the world. I'm going to call my wife in a minute because she has been my No 1 support all this while.

"We knew we can win after the game against Thailand [in the preliminary round]. They were our greatest threat and after we beat them, everything else was easy. The players are tired because they have played a total of 17 matches, including two finals [team and regu]. Physically they were not there and Thi Thanh was complaining about a discomfort in her knee before the match. But she was willing to give her all knowing that she's representing the country, not just herself," he said.

The women's double final win means that Vietnam's women sepaktakraw team - with two gold and one silver - end the tournament with a bigger haul than their rivals Thailand, who could only muster one gold and one silver.

In the Thailand versus Malaysia men's doubles final, Thailand demonstrated once again that, for all Malaysias protests to the contrary, the Malays are not currently home to Asia's sepaktakraw kings.

The Thais defeated the determined Malaysians in two straight sets and by a comfortable margin each time, taking the first set 17-21 and the second 15-21 to give them gold.

Kampol Thassit Thailand's coach had a simple reason for their win, "I think because we can control our mood, so we don't need to train for a long time," he said.

His opposite number, coach Moe Kyaw Zin of Malaysia, was more philosophical, "Some of our serves did not land as expected. We are still happy with a silver. We fought well but lost. That is sport."

15th Asian Games, Doha 2006