Opening game of the tournament saw pre-games favourite Thailand facing Myanmar. Thailand men were quickly into stride and with a 26-2 first quarter took a strong grip on the game. Myanmar remained scoreless for the 2nd quarter while Thailand put the result beyond question going into the long break leading 43-2.
The second half saw Thailand rotate their bench and while Myanmar continued to work hard but the final score of 81-16 reinforced the strength of Thailand. For Thailand Nirat, Jaisin, Singdong and Sripirom all reached double figures while for Myanmar Htain Lin Thu scored a high of 8 points.
Second game of the morning game saw Laos face off against the Philippines. Laos took an early lead but then a strong defensive effort from Philippines allowed them to go into quarter time with a five point lead. They continued to press Laos in the second quarter to increase the advantage to nine points at half time.
A strong third period and some costly turnovers from Laos allowed Philippines to extend their lead to 14 at the last change. A spirited last quarter from Laos where they outscored 19-14 was not enough and the Philippines ran out nine point winners, 56-47.
Philippines spread their scoring with Macabenguil (16) and Escalante (10) their best while for Laos Khammany led all scorers with 21 with good support from Bountang (13).
In the afternoon session the 3 on 3 game took over from the traditional game.
Thailand and Myanmar resumed hostilities from the morning, and unfortunately for Myanmar the result was the same as Thailand powered away to win 18-2. Jumjarean was the most damaging of the Thai offence with 8 points.
Hometown favourites Malaysia had their first outing against Laos and took some time to get into their game, leading by only 3 at the half. A more polished second period by Malaysia had them run out comfortable winners 19-9. Malaysian captain Hamzah top scored with 9 while for Laos Khammany led the way with 6.
Final game of the day was Myanmar up against Philippines. Despite having their third game of the day the team from Myanmar showed no signs of tiring. They held a one point lead at half time, and looked set to overcome the more fancied Philippines when they led by as many as 3 in the dying stages. However Philippines rallied and in the last few seconds took the lead to win by the narrowest of margins 13-12. Escalante with 8 points saved Philippines while Lin Thu with 5 top scored for Myanmar.
For more information about Kuala Lumpur 2017 9th ASEAN Para Games visit the website.
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