Burma now a threat as overall SEAG champ

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar—If the trend continues, Burma (Myanmar) could end up winning its first ever overall title in the Southeast Asian Games.

The host country is off to a flying start this time with 18 gold medals on the strength of victories in wrestling, wushu, canoeing and chinlone.

The bulk of the medals came from chinlone, Burma’s national sport, where it won all but two of the eight golds at stake.

Chinlone is a competition where a team of six players pass a rattan ball back and forth with their feet, knees and heads as they walk around a circle. A point is deducted when the ball drops to the ground.

Wushu was also a gold mine for the Burmese as they clinched five of the 23 medals at stake, mostly in taolu, a noncombat discipline.