A mesmerising closing ceremony for the Southeast Asian Games Tuesday was unable to lift the pall cast over competition by the deaths of two fans in a stampede at the headline football final. Fireworks and dancers lit up the centrepiece stadium in Palembang, which co-hosted the Games, but there was a sombre undertone to the event after the stampede that proceeded Indonesia’s clash with Malaysia for football gold. Two victims died in the crush before the Monday night match in Jakarta when stadium gates were opened and the crowd surged to get in, Jakarta police told AFP, adding that a boy taken to hospital had slipped into a coma. Games organisers Inasoc had warned of potential flashpoints ahead of the highly-anticipated final — which defending champions Malaysia won 4-3 on penalties after the teams were deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time.
The tragedy took the gloss off a glittering Games for the hosts, who collected 182 golds out of the 554 available in a bulging total medal haul of 476 overall. It meant Indonesia topped the Games medals charts for the first time since 1997 — when they last hosted the competition — and left 2009 winners Thailand trailing on 109 golds, with Vietnam further back on 96. The biennial event saw athletes from 11 nations compete for hundreds of medals, regional bragging rights and a rare chance to shine on the international stage.
Indonesian athletes scored memorable victories in many of the headline track and field events, while also cleaning up in niche sports such as paragliding, roller skating and traditional Indonesian martial art pencak silat. The hosts also swept the drama-filled badminton competition, while their under-23 football team stirred the passions of the nation with its run to the final. But the Games struggled to shake off nagging organisational problems, including a delay in building venues and a lack of accommodation and transport in the South Sumatran city of Palembang.
