A STROLL FOR THE ASEAN CHAMPIONS

The Thais, who had been playing a gear lower in the preliminary round, spared no such luxury in the final this afternoon against Malaysia as they stamped their dominance right from the start.

And it did not take too long for them to grab the lead when Lertchai Issarasuwipakorn slammed home before Keattiyot Chalaemkhet scored a double within the space of just two minutes in the 10th and 11th minute for Thailand to take comfortable 3-0 lead at the breather.

Malaysia attempted to shore up their defence after that but with the lack of defensive cohesion especially from the oft-erratic Zaidi Ramli between the posts, the task of stopping the Thais from scoring was always going to be difficult.

The restart saw Thailand continuing very much on the same vein as they pressed the Malaysians much into their own half.

And just three minutes after the break, Malaysia fell further behind when Anucha Munjarern found the space to slot home before Panomkorn Saisorn added the fifth goal of the evening four minutes later.

By then, the game was already beyond contention although Thailand did bring on the power play in the closing stages of the one-sided exchange but failed to add to the score line.

IN THE MEANTIME, Indonesia made up for their disappointment in losing in the semi-finals of the SEA Games to Malaysia when they thrashed Laos 11-1 to win the bronze.

And while Laos was adamant to put up a good show in the opening quarter, there was no stopping Indonesia from opening the floodgates when Mohamad Ihsan set the ball rolling with a ninth minute opener.

From then on, it was all Indonesia in action as Denny Handoyo (10th minute), Jaelani Ladjanibi (14th, 31st and 32nd minute) Andril Irawan (18th and 19th minute), Sayan Kamadi (25th and 37th minute), Ahmad Maulana (36th minute) and Angga Surya Saputra (39th minute)

Laos’ only goal in the game came off Vidalack Souvanhinavong in the 39th minute.