JAKARTA, Nov 15: Olympic doubles champions Hendra Setiawan and Markis Kido sealed gold for Indonesia’s men’s badminton team over arch-rivals Malaysia on Tuesday, as the hosts kept top spot in the Southeast Asian Games.

The pair, playing in the second doubles match, breezed by Malaysia’s Mak Hee Chun and Soon Hock Ong 21-10, 21-14 to complete the 3-1 victory, sparking jubilation among the raucous home crowd.

With several field golds up for grabs late on Tuesday under floodlights in Palemenbang, badminton starred early on with Indonesia’s men extending the host’s medals table lead with 68 golds and 171 top three finishes overall.

On the track Indonesia’s Agus Prayogo again played his part, taking the 5,000 metres and a double gold after his win in Sunday’s 10,000m, while Vietnam’s Dao Xuan Cuong won the 400m men’s hurdles.

Thailand — 2009 medals table winners — lie in second place with 41 golds after a blistering performance in the track and field events so far, with Vietnam in third after notching a respectable 31 first places.

Malaysia’s badminton side, who were booed throughout the four hour contest, had pegged the hosts back at 1-1 with a thrilling 18-21, 21-15, 23-25 win by Khim Wah Lim and Wei Shem Goh over the fancied Mohammad Ahsan and Bona Septano.

But Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto — coached by his father and former world singles champion Icuk — took the hosts clear with a straight sets win before Setiawan and Kido completed victory.

Away from the action, sports chiefs lamented on Tuesday the number of minority events — such as martial arts pencat silat and vovinam — being played at the Games, saying they detract from Olympic disciplines and hinder athletes’ chances of reaching a higher level.

Badminton aside, there are few household names among the athletes from the 11 countries taking part in the Games, with Southeast Asian nations claiming just 12 medals in the Beijing Olympics.

“The aim of the SEA Games is to unify our region so we all get better at Olympic sports and can move to the next level,” Rita Subowo president of the Indonesian SEA Games’ organising committee told AFP.

“I have asked for future Games to focus on Olympic sports so we can qualify for the big international events.

“But every SEA Games the same thing happens. The hosts always ask for traditional sports — the sport they are very good at — and there’s so much pressure to include it that there’s nothing we can do about it.”

The pressure is exerted by individual sports associations and governments keen to secure regional bragging rights with a big medal haul, she added.

A Thai representative from the nation’s Olympic committee has also spoken out against “traditional sports” saying the biennial SEA Games risk becoming less competitive as hosts choose niche events favouring their athletes. Subowo also said the Games had recovered from a delay-stricken start and were on course to be a success.

It emerged on Tuesday that Indonesian students have been drafted in to cheer on visiting nations with few supporters including arch-rivals Malaysia.

State media reported that hundreds of junior and high school students in Palembang — the South Sumatran city co-hosting the Games with Jakarta — have been deployed as cheerleaders.—AFP