The two-week long competition was held at various venues around Phuket from May 24 - June 5.
The Phuket Youth team claimed 60 medals in all, including 18 gold, 16 silver and 26 bronze. They were still a long way behind overall winners Bangkok though, with the team from the nation’s capital claiming a whopping 247 medals, including 102 gold.
For the home competitors though, there were several impressive performances worthy of mention. Phuket’s first gold came from the girls’ soft tennis team, who beat their Nakhon Ratchasima opponents in the final round of their competition on May 29.
Later that afternoon, Krit Jamkajornkiet and Panot Kingkaew beat Maha Sarakam in the competition’s Go event (a Chinese board game similar to chess) to claim Phuket’s second gold medal.
From then on, the golds continued to roll in as Phuket bowler Somkiet Kraisombat picked up a gold in the boys’ 10-pin bowling competition, scoring an impressive 1,217 points, and Anas Seeseng won gold in the boys’ Pencak Silat (Indonesian martial arts) competition.
On May 31 the medals kept on coming when the Phuket Boy’s Golf team won gold with a combined (four players) top score of 865.
Phuket also proved to be more than proficient in Karate, with the local team bagging five gold medals; three from the boys’ 9-14 age group, and one each from the girls’ 9-14 and 15-18 age groups.
June 4 saw Phuket pick up three more gold medals in the Pencak Silat competition, and in the girls’ 15-18 year-old tennis finals, Phuket’s Butsarin Raktaengam repeated her victory in the Uttraradit Games four years ago by overpowering Rongroong Leenabanjong from Bangkok in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
But despite the overall success for the home province, the Phuket Youth Games were not without tragedy; on May 31, 18-year-old Bangkok canoeist, Sutthipong Laphutama, was killed when a rented motorcycle he was riding with 13-year-old Auttapong Noikamsin crashed in Rawai.
The event was also marred by horrendous weather conditions for the majority of the tournament, which wreaked havoc with many outdoor events, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.
The next National Youth Games will take place in Mahasarakham, near Khon Kaen, next year.