The Thai contingent dominated the medal standings from the first day of action and were never threatened by their ASEAN rivals as they amassed 175 gold, 155 silver and 158 bronze medals to claim their seventh overall title - the most among the ASEAN member nations, reports the Bangkok Post.
Indonesia, who were overall champions in the last three editions, finished in second place with 135 gold, 144 silver and 114 bronze medals. They won the overall title four times. Malaysia, who will host the 2027 edition, finished with 64 gold, 64 silver and 73 bronze medals. They won the overall title in the inaugural edition held on their home soil in 2001.
The Philippines came in fourth place, with 45 gold, 37 silver and 52 bronze medals and Vietnam rounded off the top five with 38 gold, 48 silver and 58 bronze medals.
The seven-day tournament featured 19 sports and offered 493 gold medals.
The highlight of the last day of competition on Sunday was football, with Thailand vying for gold medals in both 7-a-side and 5-a-side events.
The 7-a-side football competition for people with cerebral palsy (football CP) saw the Thai men’s team win the last gold of the Games.
Chanatip Deeman struck a 51st minute winner as Thailand edged Myanmar 1-0 in the championship game to successfully reclaim the title.
Earlier, the men’s blind football (5-a-side) team defeated Myanmar 4-0 in the final to win the title for the third successive Games.
Kittikorn Buadee was a hat-trick hero, scoring in the 12th, 30th and 31st minutes and Panyawut Kupan added the fourth goal in the 34th minute.
Para table tennis players Wanchai Chaiwut and Yuttajak Glinbancheun added to the Thai medal tally on the last day of competition, claiming the men’s doubles TT8 title, beating Indonesia’s Yayang Gunaya and Adyos Astan 3-1 (11-6, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3) in the title match.
Also, wheelchair tennis players Naluemitr Benkhunthod and Worakit Daengchuen beat Mohamad Yusshazwan Bin Yusoff and Abu Samah Bin Borhan 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to win the men’s doubles gold medal.
Dr Gongsak Yodmani, Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), commented, “We achieved our main goal, which was to reclaim the top spot in the medal standings. In the last three ASEAN Para Games, Indonesia outperformed us.
“As you know, Para Games often involve events being cut because athletes’ disabilities may not meet the classification criteria set by the organisers. Therefore, many events we expected to compete in were not included, which led to a reduction in our gold medal target. We initially hoped for over 200 gold medals, but the 175 gold medals we won are the highest we’ve ever achieved, comparable to the 2022 Games when Indonesia achieved a similar tally.
“The next major Para Games is the 2026 Asian Para Games in Nagoya, Japan, later this year. For athlete preparation, we have instructed the Elite Sports Department of the SAT to collect statistics from all Thai national athletes and focus on developing new athletes. In many sports at this ASEAN Para Games, we saw several first-time gold medal winners. It is also very encouraging that many Thai athletes broke records at this event,” he added.
“For example, in a single day, more than 40 records were broken by Thai athletes in both athletics and swimming. We see this as a positive trend, indicating that the Thai para athletes will be a strong force at the Asian Para Games in Japan.”