Photo Courtesy:  Visitthailand.info

Regional powerhouse Thailand is set to show its force in sports once again in the upcoming South East Asian Games (SEA Games) in Vientiane, Laos. The regional event which kicks off this coming December 9 is considered the olympics of South East Asia. A total of 379 Gold medals are up for grabs in this event participated by 11 countries located at the said region.

In 2007 edition of the SEA games held at Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, the host country dominated by hauling down a total of 182 golds together with 123 silver and 101 bronze medals.  Thailand is expected to do the same in this year’s edition considering their performances the qualifying events. Besides, reports coming out from local media stated that the Thai government is joined by corporate sponsors in fully supporting the contingent. The countries that would likely give the Thais a run for their money are Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and emerging powerhouse Vietnam.

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WBC straw weight champion Oledong Sithsamerchai of Thailand is set to defend his title to Juan Palacios of Nicaragua on Friday, November 27 in Pathum Thani, Thailand.  It will be the first mandatory title defense for Sithsamerchai after defeating Eagle Den Junlaphan last November 2007. He vows to keep his record clean which now stands at 32-0-0 with 12 KOs.

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South Korea’s golf phenom Shin Ji-Yai came short of grabbing the LPGA Player of the Year Award after finishing eight in the recent LPGA Tour Championship in Texas. Shin Ji-Yai already clinched the Rookie of the Year award though. She has been on the spotlight for the past months for her superb performances that would have put her as the first golfer after Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win both the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards.

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South Korea national team manager Huh Jung-moo recently won the Asian Football Confederation’s Coach of the Year award in the annual awards in Kuala Lumpur.  Huh Jung-moo guided his team to qualify in the 2010 World Cup and once had a 27 game winning streak before bowing to Serbia in friendlies last November 18. He became to the fifth South Korean to receive such honor.

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Japan’s Yasuhito Endo was named Asian Football Confederation’s Player of the year at the annual awards ceremony in Kula Lumpur. Endo who also plays for local club Gamba Osaka beat fellow Japanese Kengo Nakamura, Firas Al Khatib of Syria and Hadi Aghily of Iran for the coveted plum.