HOST Thailand made a blistering start to the 33rd SEA Games Thailand 2025, surging to the top of the medal standings as Malaysia celebrated its first gold medal courtesy of a commanding performance by the men’s Hockey5s team.
Malaysia’s men’s squad delivered a strong display to defeat Indonesia 7–3 in the final match, delivering Team MAS their first gold of the Games and a rousing lift to the contingent on Day 1.
Head coach Wan Mohd Roslan Wan Abdul Rahman praised his squad for their consistent performances throughout the campaign, especially in the group stages. “The players executed our game plan effectively and showed great composure in dealing with Indonesia’s pressure and attacking waves. With this result, I hope Hockey5s will continue to grow and be further developed in Malaysia,” he said.
The women’s team, however, failed to follow suit and had to settle for silver after going down 1–7 to Thailand in the final at the RTAF Hockey Stadium.
At the end of Day 1, the Malaysian contingent are placed joint-sixth alongside the Philippines with 2 gold, 2 silver (badminton men’s team and women’s Hockey5s) and 9 bronze medals, won across badminton (women’s team), canoe, pétanque, polo, chinlone (2), swimming and taekwondo.
As expected, Thailand emerged as the biggest winner of the day, sweeping an impressive 19 of the 38 gold medals contested. Their victories were spread across multiple sports including badminton (women’s team), canoe (3), chess, mountain bike cycling (2), Hockey5s (women), ju-jitsu duo classic (2), ju-jitsu fighting (3), pétanque, polo, sepak takraw (2), swimming and taekwondo.
Behind the hosts, Indonesia and Singapore are locked in a tight battle for second spot with 5 gold medals each, while Vietnam collected 4 and Myanmar 2.
Day 1 was also marked by unexpected drama off the field after Cambodia officially withdrew its entire contingent, citing concerns over athlete safety amid rising Thai–Cambodian border tensions.
The Games opened in spectacular and colourful fashion last night at the Rajamangala National Stadium, officiated by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, with 12,000 athletes from the region vying for 574 gold medals across 50 sports.
Day 2 (Thursday 11 Dec) will see nine gold medals up for grabs in Athletics, Basketball 3×3 (men & women) 2 gold, Billiards (men’s singles), Canoe (5), Mountain Bike Cross Country (1), Extreme Water Ski–Wakeboard (3), Gymnastics 5 gold, Ju-jitsu (4), Judo with 2 gold, Karate (4), Mixed Martial Arts (6), Snooker (women’s team), Swimming with 7 gold and four gold in contest in taekwondo.
