Cambodian Karate exponent trio claimed third place in the women’s kata demonstration event at the 19th Asian Games in China. CAMBODIA 2023
Team Cambodia has formally completed their mission at the 19th Asian Games in China, with the athletes returning home with a single bronze medal.
The Chinese hosts broke the gold medal record, claiming an astonishing 201 gold at the largest sporting event in Asia.
The competition – held in Hangzhou, a major Chinese economic hub in Zhejiang province – began on September 23 and ended on October 7.
The Kingdom’s sole moment on the podium came on the final day of competition, when the Karate exponent trio of That Chheng Horng, Oun Sreyda and Puthea Sreynuch claimed third place in the women’s kata demonstration event.
The Cambodian national team took part in 16 other sports – swimming, athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, dragon boat, fencing, judo, jujitsu, Chinese chess, sailing, taekwondo (WT), soft tennis, triathlon, men's indoor volleyball and wrestling – but were unable to find success against the athletes of the 45 other participating nations.
One bright moment came when SEA Games medallist Chhun Bunthorn broke the Cambodian national 1,500m record. Bunthorn became the first Cambodian to break the four-minute mark, crossing the line in 3:59.97 minutes to break the 4:01.8 set by Nhea Khay at the 3rd SEA Games in Malaysia in 1965.
Swimmer De Lapparent Antoine also claimed a national record when he recorded a time of 26.77 seconds in the 50m back stroke. Cambodian-American Montross Phansovannarun also found success in the pool, breaking his own national record for the 50m freestyle with a time of 24.91, and shattering his previous personal best of 25.79 seconds.
There were other reminders of the Kingdom’s fighting spirit, with SEA Games gold medal wrestler becoming the only member of an ASEAN nation to win a match at the Asian Games. He beat Nepal's Yadav Raj 10-0 in the elimination round of 1/8 before losing to Kazakhstan’s Batirmurzaev Yusup 5-2 in the quarterfinals.
Casey Barnett, vice-president of the Wrestling Federation of Cambodia, lauded the achievement.
“Cambodia was the only country from Southeast Asia to win a match. No other country from Southeast Asia won a single match, not even Vietnam. The competitors from the Central Asian countries – such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Iran – dominated the events,” he noted.
Despite sending 114 athletes to the tournament, the medal tally reflected a decline in the Kingdom’s fortunes at the games. At the previous two events, it claimed consecutive gold medals.
In contrast, hosts China won 201 gold medals, along with 111 silver and 71 bronze. This placed them firmly atop the medal table. They were followed by Japan, with 52 gold, 67 silver and 69 bronze. South Korea claimed third place, winning 42 gold, 59 silver and 89 bronze medals.
China’s record setting achievement was the highest on record since the games began in 1951. When the 16th Asian Games were held in Guangzhou in 2010, China won 119 gold, 119 silver and 98 bronze medals.
