Making headline news has been the pace, construction and organization of the upcoming 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. However, preceding next year's summer Games are a number of entertaining regional multi-sport events which feature not only many well-known Olympic disciplines, but also traditional games unique to the locality. This article focuses on the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games which constitute the biggest sporting event in the region.

The Southeast Asian Games have a long history with the first games being held in Bangkok in 1959. This year celebrates the 22nd SEA Games which take place in Vietnam from the 5th to 14th December 2003. The Games are both a spectacular event and a valuable opportunity for athletes to gain competition experience and preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games. It is the first time Vietnam has hosted the Games and the move is seen as an important collaborative step towards its closest neighbours.

History

The Southeast Asian Games were initiated by the Southeast Asian Sports Federation formed in 1959. The ethos behind the Games has been to

• Strengthen friendship, solidarity, and understanding among all countries in the region
• To continuously promote the performance, technique and tactics of Southeast Asian athletes in order to achieve better performance at the Asian and Olympic Games

The Games are held every two years and are hosted by a different country each time. Initially there were six nations in the event but this has grown to encompass eleven south-east Asian nations which include Brunei, Cambodia, Dong Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

The Games have grown since its relatively small beginnings and now includes 32 sports ranging from basketball and football to wushu and pencak silat. Three traditional southeast Asian sports popular at the Games are sepaktakraw, pencak silat and wushu.

Three traditional Southeast Asian sports

Sepaktakraw

Sepaktakraw is a skill ball game originating from Asia. It resembles volleyball except that athletes use their feet rather than their hands to volley the ball over the net. Records of such games go back to the 11th century in Southeast asia but the modern version had rules and regulations standardized in 1960. It became a medal event in the SEA Games in 1965. New synthetic balls were introduced in 1984 which helped standardize the balls and alleviated the threat from lack of rattan the material from which the traditional balls were made. In 1990 sepaktakraw became an official sport at the 10th Asian Games in Beijing.

Sepaktakraw originated from the words Sepak, a term used in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia which translates into "kick", and Takraw, a term used in Thailand which means "woven ball".

The game is played by two opposing regus (team). Each team has three players who play on a court separated by a net similar to badminton. Sepaktakraw begins with the service, executed by a ball toss from one player to the server. The players then try to beat their opponents using their legs and head to control the ball. There are three 'kicks' allowed per possession before the ball has to go back over the net. Players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands. The "spike" is the highlight of the game, equivalent to the dunk in basketball. The spike is when in mid-air players use their feet to smash the ball into the opponent's court. The game is becoming increasingly popular outside of Southeast Asia and is now being played in such countries as Canada, Australia, the US, Finland and Egypt.

Wushu

Wushu originated in China and is to make its debut at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. It too has a long history. Traditionally it was thought to help maintain health, cure diseases, improve self-defense and provide suitable training for military skills. Wushu is the Chinese word meaning martial arts. There are two main categories of wushu, the routine (taolu) and the free fight (sanshou). Wushu consists of hand, weapon and choreographed fighting sets. It combines all of the different martial arts with varying levels of difficulty. There are currently 83 countries who participate in wushu routines.

Pencak Silat

Pencak Silat is another martial art stemming in the majority from Malay and Indonesian heritage. It translates to "fighting by using techniques of self-defence" and has four main components; mental spirit, art & culture, self-defense and sport. The whole aspect is considered and all elements are key during competition. It can be practiced purely for fitness, for aesthetics or with martial arts focus. The large variety of techniques that can be used in pencak silat encapsulate its uniqueness.

Vietnam and the Games

With its turbulent history, Vietnam did not compete in the SEA games until 1989 and has steadily increased its participation and achievement since this late beginning. In the 21st Games, Vietnam came 4th out of 11 countries, competing in 24 out of the 32 events. In the 21st Games, Vietnam won 33 golds, 35 silvers and 65 bronzes but as host nation this year they are hoping to surpass these achievements and win sufficient golds to take at least the bronze place.

The 22nd SEA Games are spread across the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City. The event is expected to involve 5,000 athletes and officials from 11 different countries. The affect of the Games on Ho Chi Minh City has already been widespread. Naturally there has been the construction of multiple new sports facilities such as the Nguyen Du gymnasium seating 3,500 and the Phan Dinh Phung gymnasium seating 4,000. Existing facilities like the Thong Nhat stadium which seats 25,000 have been upgraded.

The organizing committee has contributed $328 billion VND or $21 million to create facilities, improve infrastructure and ensure security. Festivals and fairs have been organized to promote the Games. Large numbers of tourists are expected to attend and hotel rooms have been allocated to cater for the increased demand. Nineteen hotels have been refurbished. In Hanoi, where tourism is already a significant tourist attraction there are now 360 hotels that meet international standards.

For the first time in the SEA history, athletes will not be placed together in a Games Village but will stay in designated hotels closest to their sports. Vietnam orchestrated the setup to save money. Events are free apart from for the opening ceremony and for a few favorite sports where there will be a charge for spectators.

Reviews of Vietnam's preparation in general have been positive. Secretary of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, recently visited Vietnam and expressed enthusiasm over the new modern facilities in Vietnam and commented on the strong Vietnamese athletic performances. He also warned athletes that they would need to be prepared for weather differentials between more temperate Hanoi and hot and humid Ho Chi Minh.

According to Nguyen Hong Minh the Vietnamese team leader, Vietnam are aiming high and hope to finish in the top 3. Vietnam stands a good chance of winning seven golds in each of the sports of diving, karate, pencak silat, shooting, taekwondo, wushu events. Body-building, canoeing, gymnastics, snooker, track and field, and weightlifting are also expected to bring in between 3 and 6 gold medals per event. As hosts of the tournament Vietnam not only have home court advantage but have the chance to choose which sports will dominate the medal count.

However despite the recent concentrated training programs for elite athletes and the competitive experiences abroad that some have undertaken, Vietnam lacks the training facilities or experienced coaches for those athletes who have not yet reached the standard of international competition. To realistically bring enough youngsters through to compete with the stronger Southeast Asian nations, Vietnam will need to address this issue in the long term.

Past winners and predictions for 22nd SEA Games

The 21st SEA Games were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2001. For the first time in the competition's history Malaysia were overall winners benefitting from being the host nation. Their gold medal tally reached 111 whilst second place Thailand won 103 gold medals and achieved the largest number of medals overall. In the 21st Games, the final standings were:

Year	No. of Sports	Rank	Country	No. of gold medals	No. of silver medals	No. of bronze medals
2001 (21st Games - Kuala Lumpur)	32	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Malaysia Thailand Indonesia Vietnam Philippines Singapore Myanmar Laos Cambodia Brunei	111 103 72 33 30 22 19 1 1 0	75 86 74 35 66 31 14 3 1 5	85 89 80 64 67 42 53 7 5 6

For results table of all SEA Games since 1959, visit sources

Despite Malaysia's win in 2001, the two consistent powerhouses are Thailand, having won the championships 8 times, and Indonesia who have 9 championship wins. Both Indonesia and Thailand are set to host a strong field in this month's Games and are likely to be battling it out for first place. 21st SEA winners Malaysia have chosen not to send athletes for every sport and expect to capture only 50 golds, a figure which will leave them way short of that needed for a championship spot.

Indonesia has not won the SEA Games since 1997 and hopes to improve upon the finish of the past two tournaments. In Indonesia both excellence in sport and sport for all is encouraged. Every year on September 9th the National Sports day is celebrated with widescale participation across the country. Although there is government support and emphasis on sporting achievements, the degree of public and private funding remains tied to the success of the Indonesian economy. If this is in decline as it has been in recent years, then it has an adverse affect on the sporting opportunities across the nation. The Indonesian government's commitment to support can be highlighted by their partnership throughout much of the 1990s with the excellent sporting nation of Australia. In 1995 Australia and Indonesia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Sports Cooperation. In 1996 an Australian consultant undertook a 6 month study of sports in Indonesia at the request of the Indonesian government and produced a report outlining a scheme to develop sport in Indonesia. The plan recommended greater input and development from Indonesian sporting bodies, the government and education.

Thailand last won the SEA Games in 1999 and are the favourites to win the 22nd SEA Games championship. They have shown commitment and support of Vietnam's hosting of the Games and are sending 850 representative of which 645 are athletes. Mr. Pramoj Rathavinij, Deputy Chairman of the Public Relations Committee for the Thai delegation whilst speaking to a representative of the Vietnam News Agency, said that Thailand were aiming to win as many gold medals as possible. He stated that they were also committed to reporting extensively on the Games and both reporters and TV crews were being sent in their masses and that the main events would be broadcast live across Thailand.

The SEA Games are both an interesting and unique sports event and the championships will undoubtedly appeal to sports fans around the world. For viewers outside of Southeast Asia who are interested in following the Games, the official SEA Games website can be found at http://english.seagames22.com.vn/ which provides scheduling, results and news. Other sports news sites to watch are the official Vietnam News Agency, The Strait Times - a Singaporean publication, Indonesia Sport and the Jakarta Post.

Sources/Further Information

Takraworld Wushu 2008
Confederation of Canadian Wushu Organizations
Pencak Silat
Australia and Indonesia sport
Thailands support of the 22nd Games
http://english.seagames22.com.vn/
Vietnam News Agency
The Strait Times - a Singaporean publication
Indonesia Sport
Jakarta Post

Table of Result for all SEA Games

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