Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 9, 2023: With the origins of petanque dating back to French colonial rule in Indochina, it’s no surprise that Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam are among the strongest nations in the region.
But the tough Thais can never be ruled out of any sport at the Southeast Asian Games – and they duly proved this by outclassing Cambodia in the pétanque mixed doubles final on Tuesday afternoon.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd on the show court of the Federation of Boules and Petanque of Cambodia HQ in the Olympic Stadium complex, Thailand’s Nantawan Fueangsanit and Sarawut Sriboonpeng beat Cambodia’s Sao Sophearann and Nop Chourlyka 13-4.
Nantawan and her left-handed teammate Sarawut have been playing together as a mixed doubles pair for six years and she said this was their first taste of gold at the SEA Games in mixed doubles.
When asked what made them a good match, she replied: “We trust each other and believe in each other. We played a good game today to beat the host country in the final.”
Nantawan continued her incredible golden streak in the SEA Games, as this was her sixth gold medal in six SEA Games appearances, with the previous five coming in other events.
Thailand’s all-round expertise highlighted the high level of training in all sports, no matter their origins, according to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Supitr Samahito, Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand.
“It doesn’t matter where the sport is from, Thailand wants to do well in all sports we enter in this type of games,” she said.
“We train hard in taekwondo from Korea, judo and karate from Japan and also in pétanque,” added Dr. Supitr, who is Director of the Thailand Olympic Academy.
“The interest of the Thai people in pétanque is thanks to the mother of King Rama VIII and IX, who lived in Switzerland. When she came back to Thailand, she knew all about pétanque and could speak French.
“The King’s mother translated the rules from French to Thai and encouraged the elderly people to play pétanque because it was good exercise and there was no chance of injury. This is how pétanque started in Thailand,” explained Dr. Supitr.
The younger generations have taken to it, too, as their mixed doubles gold proved on Tuesday.
