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KORAT, Thailand - A partisan crowd saw Thailand take the football gold here, securing their eighth consecutive SEA Games title as the competition -- overshadowed by claims of unfair judging -- neared a close.
The host nation, now on a mammoth 174 golds, beat unfancied Myanmar 2-0 in front of passionate home support in Korat's main stadium.
They are more than 100 golds clear of nearest challengers Malaysia, on 65, with the closing ceremony taking place Saturday evening.
But the shine has been taken off their achievements by spats over judging, which Thursday saw Filipino boxers retire from six fights in protest.
In Friday's football final, Thailand took the lead just before the quarter-hour mark when Anon Sangsonoi burst through the middle and slammed his shot past Myanmar keeper Kyaw Zin Htet.
The home side doubled their advantage on 38 minutes when Teeratep Winothai headed home.
"This gold medal takes all the pressure off because the whole country expected us to win," Thai coach Thongsuk Sampahangsit said.
Myanmar coach Marcos Falopa said: "It was very difficult. They really wished to win this competition and they played at home and had a lot of experience."
Earlier Friday, Singapore secured third place in the under-23 football competition by thrashing Vietnam 5-0 with a hat-trick from Fazrul Nawaz.
On the tennis court, defending champion Cecil Mamiit of the Philippines shocked Thai hotshot Danai Udomchoke to take the gold.
And at the badminton arena, Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat won gold, helping Indonesia secure a clean sweep of all seven medals in the competition.
After his comfortable 21-15, 21-9 victory over Singapore's Lee Yen Hui Kendrick, the Indonesian superstar said: "I'm happy because I won the gold medal for Indonesia and I'm happy with my performance."
Hidayat was at the centre of controversy on Wednesday when an umpire ordered him from the side of the court to the stands after he accused officials of trying to aid a Thai player.
On Thursday the boxing tournament was thrown into chaos after six Philippine fighters retired in a protest over the judging.
Philippine boxers were down to fight in seven of the ten gold medal bouts against the host nation, and their walkout helped Thailand sweep to all ten boxing golds.
Philippines' chef de mission Monico Puentevella told AFP the decision to retire from the fights was taken by the boxers following the results in the women's contests Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Manny Lopez, president of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, called the boxing competition a "comic show" after Thailand won six out of the seven women's events.
There have also been allegations of biased judging in favour of Thai athletes in the weightlifting.
The biennial SEA Games have been dogged before by accusations of bias, with this year's event marking a role reversal for Thailand, who levied similar claims against the Philippines at the last Games in Manila.
After then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra complained of bias in 2005, Thai officials roundly promised to ensure they would guarantee fair play when the games came to Thailand.
- AFP /ls
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