Malaysia to challenge Thailand’s Muaythai domination at Ashgabat 2017

Thailand may be Muaythai’s home land, but the performances of host nation Malaysia at August’s South East Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur proves the sport’s originators may not have everything their own way when the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games kick off in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on Sunday.

Thailand and Malaysia won two gold medals each in the discipline with the Thais narrowly topping the medal table by virtue of claiming three silvers to Malaysia’s silver and a bronze as the traditional power base of the sport was challenged.

Malaysia’s Mohd Ali Yaakub defeated Surachai Nakthaem to win gold in the 54kg category and his performance was backed up by Ain Kamarrudin’s shock win against world champion Thachtana Luangphon in the heavier 57kg class.

“I was very proud of this victory,” said Ain, who won the title despite having lost his father to cancer just weeks before. “I dedicated this gold medal to my late father, family and all Malaysians.”

The 25-year-old from Kelantan had previously won the bronze medal at the SEA Games in Myanmar in 2013 but saw off Thachtana 29-28 to claim the gold medal for the first time in his career. 

Ali, who was making his SEA Games debut despite being aged 31, defeated Surachai 30-27 in their match-up in the final.

“The team trained in Thailand for about a month before the SEA Games and the results augur well for the development of the sport in Malaysia,” said the country’s coach, Bernard Radin.

Thailand were also forced to make do with the silver medal in the 63.5kg category as Cambodia’s Khun Dima defeated Chonlawit Preedasak, with Dima claiming the gold medal despite being knocked down in the first round before going on to win the title 29-28.

However, there was better luck for the Thais in the heavier weight classes.

Mana Samchaiyaphum handed Malaysia Tengku Sharizal Tengku Abdul Rahman a defeat in the 67kg weight division and Anueng Khattamarasri won against Cambodia’s Muen Sophea in the 71kg division, with Malaysia’s Muhamad Samsi Noor sharing the bronze with Truong Quoc Hung of Vietnam.

The gold medals were part of a hugely successful SEA Games for the event hosts, with the Malaysians claiming 145 gold medals, an astonishing 73 more than nearest rival Thailand. The Malaysians also won 92 silvers and 86 bronzes for a total of 323 medals.

Thailand took second in the table with 72 goals with Vietnam third with 58. Indonesia, who will host the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang in 2018, claimed 38 gold medals.

Many of the athletes are now heading to Turkmenistan where Ashgabat 2017 will take place from 17–27 September featuring 6000 athletes and officials from 65 delegations.