Special Report on the 13th Asian Games Amateur Muaythai Demonstration Competition

On the occasion of His Majesty the King of Thailand gracious kindness in presiding as the Chairman of the Opening Ceremony and lighting the competition flame of the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince presiding as the Chairman during the Closing Ceremony of the event at the Rajamangala National Stadium. Mr Bichai Rattakul the Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Organising Committee of the 13th Asian Games reported to their Majesties the sport events that were to be competed in the whole tournament, Muaythai was mentioned 3 times which was more than any sport put together. As a Muaythai enthusiast, I want to see Muaythai reach a new height and play a major role in an international event. Hence, once Muaythai was announced it was with great pride of honour to be part of the committee member of the Amateur Muaythai Association of Thailand .the Federation of MUAYTHAI Asia (FAMA) and the International Federation of MUAYTHAI Asia who have contributed and made this event possible.

Last Minute for Muaythai

Before June 1991, Muaythai’s aims and directions were yet unclear. Many asked whether Muaythai would be a demonstration sport in the Asian Games or not, nobody knew but the chances were quite small. There were no mentioning of Amateur Muaythai in the newspapers nor was it talked about in regular or special meetings held by the Bangkok Asian Games Organising Committee (BAGOC). But that was the change, once the Amateur Muaythai Association of Thailand (AMAT) had a re-shuffle in the management level in the association. The newly elected president of AMAT, lieutenant General Vorayudh Mesommonta (rank at that time), also President of FAMA and IFMA went straight to work in pushing for Amateur Muaythai acceptance in the 13th Asian Games. By close coordination with the Olympic Committee of Thailand the possibilities were studied and explored.

AMAT was given very valuable advice from Dr Sakchye Tapsuwan, the Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand and also the president of the Technical Committee of the 13th Asian Games. One of his suggestions was to build the confidence in the Art of Muaythai among one of the authoritative representative members of the Olympic Council of Asia. And if possible, was to demonstrate to that person the potential of the sport by inviting that person to witness a Muaythai international event before the last meeting to submit any spot wishing to be demonstrated in the 13th Asian Games.

On 18-23 November 1997, AMAT and FAMA was given the opportunity to welcome Mr Muhammad Latif Butt representative from the Olympic Council of Aisa to act as an observer in the 9th Asian Championship Title Competition or known as the 9th Prince’s Cup held at the Rangsit Boxing Stadium in Patumthani Province. This competition was organised by the Federation of Amateur Muaythai of Asia (FAMA) and a total of 19 Asian Countries participated. The things that made Mr Latif butt convinced in this sport’s potential were the clear decisive regulations and the boxer’s protective equipment that provided more than adequate safety to the head from knock-outs (KO) and cuts, the body, the shins and elbows from bruises with the head protector, body protector, shin protector and elbow protector respectively.

The small chance of getting accepted into the Asian Games turned into an opportunity of a life time, when in mid-December 1997 the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) approved the Amateur Muaythai competition to be a demonstration sport in the 13th Asian Games. At first it was debated whether Muaythai should be a demonstration or an exhibition but eventually it was unanimously voted to be accepted as a demonstration sport.

11 Counties Participating in the Event

Even though amateur Muaythai was only a demonstration sport but it had to abide to all the rules and regulations set forth by the 13th Asian Games Organising Committee as if it was a regular sport event in every aspect. The only difference is that all the medals received in the Muaythai Competition will not be tallied in the total score board along with other sports. As for the athletes, they must be endorsed by their respective National Olympic Council (NOC) as they must represent their country as a national team in each sport event.

From 6th January 1998 onwards that AMAT was officially informed to organised the Asian Games Demonstration Competition in December, with almost a year, not much time when compared to the amount of work that needed to be done. To invite FAMA member countries through each individual NOC and simultaneously prepare for the competition that was take place on 13-16 December 1998 required patient and perseverance. Out of 20 countries initially invited to participate in the competition, due to the stipulations set forth by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) that every athlete must be endorsed by their NOC to represent their countries, the number of countries ready and able to participate reduced. One of the many problems that we did no anticipate was the fact that each individual athlete must be registered with each individual NOC and must bear the name “Amateur Muaythai” on the governing body’s title. This governing body will intern contact all the Muaythai camps who are members of that governing body in that country to seek out the best boxers to form the national team on behalf of that Country when asked to participate in an Amateur Muaythai Competition.

That governing body should be an association, for an example the Amateur Muaythai (name of Sport) Association (governing body) of Thailand (name of representing country); in full The Amateur Muaythai Association of Thailand. And this association must be registered with the individual’s NOC to ensure only one governing body controlling that sport. Another problem in relation to the above explanation is that some Muaythai Associations in Asia had already received NOC recognition but the sport name was not correct and confusion arose. Since the NOC of that particular country could not find the representative of the sport, they just omit participation because it did not correspond to the name of the sport that has been registered with OCA. For an example, Thai Boxing Association or Muaythai-Kick Boxing Association of Thailand, may have been certified by Thailand’s NOC, but the name did not correspond to OCA’s sport list, hence the association was omitted and no participation. Hence we urge all associations that have already registered or will consider registering please make sure that it has “Amateur Muaythai Association” as part of its official name. It is planned that in future amateur Muaythai tournament, we will adapt this type of concept in inviting teams to compete. By inviting through respective NOC instead of inviting individual clubs or camps will save us a lot of misunderstandings and problems among members. So please quickly get your association registered with your NOC and remember that for one country there can be only on e governing body to represent the sport. And the last problem was the budget. Since Amateur Muaythai was late entry into the Asian Games a lot of the counties did not have any budget allocated, hence refusing participation tin the competition. All in all 11 countries participated; India, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Macau, Republic of Korea and Thailand.

A special thanks also must go to General Chetta Thanajaro President of the OLYMPIC committee of Thailand and a great supporter of MUAYTHAI as he also is the President of the World MUAYTHAI Council.General Chetta presided over the opening Ceremony

The competition was held at the Gymnasium 2, Thai-Japan Youth Centre, Din Dang in Bangkok. Further guests of honour Major General Charouck Arirachakaran the Secretary General of the Olympic Committee of Thailand, Mr Wei Jizhong and Mr Muhammad Latif Butt Fulfilment and Final Chapter.

It was because of Mr Bunyeun Suvantadha’s determination and experience that founded the Amateur Muaythai Association back in 1982. It was because of him that we so fruitfully enjoy the spoils of war today. It was his life’s ambition to push amateur Muaythai into the Asian Games and the Olympic Games. He is the person to whom we all should thank. Mr Bunyeun at the age of 71 arrived with his wife and daughter to the competition stadium. He was quite late which was quite unnatural to a man who have devoted his life to this art of self defence. Upon arriving, he made it obvious and very cleared that he wanted to carry the Asian Games flag, leading the troops of athletes from 11 countries into the stadium in the Opening Ceremony instead of a student that we have had arranged for the event. Many people objected to his intentions in concern especially to his health. But Mr Bunyeun confirmed his determination and that was the last of it. The next scene that everyone witnessed seeing was this man marching proudly into the stadium. He looked strong and firm carrying the flag. You can see the joy, the pride and fulfilment. He carried the flag throughout the entire opening ceremony. It was a moment of victory for his beloved sport. Mr Bunyeun did not show any sign of exhaustion either by sitting in the spectator seats or at the VIP stage where he belonged. Throughout the entire 9 matches, he walked and stood glued right beside the ring. He was happy and proud. Upon arriving home and after the shear excitement have subsided in the confinement of his loved ones that was when they saw his deteriorating physical health. He mentioned to his wife that he could not breathe, his chest felt very tight and his shoulder’s hurt. His wife tried to ease the pain by massaging his shoulders and arms. It did not get any better, until they saw no chance but to take him to the hospital. He refused, he said “I have a lot of work tomorrow and if I got to the hospital they will hospitalise me for sure”. At around 5 o’clock in the early morning of 14th December 1998, his family would not take “no” for an answer. He was rushed to Bangkok Hospital where his personal physician was awaiting. In the examining room the doctor found him to have pneumonia. He had to sleep in the sitting position in order for him to be able to breathe easier. The doctors gave him medication and injections to force the water out of his lungs but it was too late. He passed away at 11:20 am that same day due to heart failure.

Throughout the entire 5 hours in the Intensive Care Unite (ICU) all that Mr Bunyeun muttered was he had a big task in front of him, the quest to get accepted in the next Asian Games and to proudly be with all his friends from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and so on which have worked with him since the day of establishing FAMA. He may never be able to go to the 14th Asian Games in Pusan, but for all we know is that his spirit and his love for this sport will always and forever be with us. Mr Bunyeun Suvantadha passed away with a sense of achievement, a dream fulfilled, a hero and lastly a man of devotion with his own philosophy “This Life for Muaythai”. The Status of Muaythai as a Sport Muaythai before receiving approval to be a demonstration sport in the 13th Asian Games, another organisation that FAMA and IFMA approached in order for Muaythai to be accepted by the people of the world for both the Asian and the Olympic Games is the General Association of International Sport Federation: GAISF with Mr Kim Un Jong from the Republic of Korea as the president. The working process for any given sport to become an international competition event: the Olympic Games. It is accepted with the policies set forth by Mr Kim Un Jon, in recommending the sport for further deliberation by the International Olympic Council (IOC). Therefore to put amateur Muaythai on the right track to the road of success certain guidelines were provided by GAISF so that MUAYTHAI can pursue. The guidelines are as follows:-

Result Summary of the 13th Asian Games
Amateur Muaythai Demonstration Competition 13-16 December 1998

Results 13 December

Session 1 15:00

#	Event	Bout	Winner	CTRY		CTRY	COD	RESULT
1	48kg	Semi-Final	RAGOT, Randy	PHI	NGUYEN, Nguc-Trung	VIE	PTS	5-0
2	48kg	Semi-Final	NOY, Tick	LAO	SUVAZOV, Kamal	KAZ	PTS	5-0
3	54kg	Semi-Final	GIAP, Trung-Thang	VIE	SHAH, Alaudin	IND	PTS	5-0
4	54kg	Semi-Final	BANTHITAVONG, B.	LAO	BALTAZAR, Rodolfo	PHI	PTS	5-0
5	63.5kg	Semi-Final	OH, Joo-Hwan	KOR	KHAITOV, Y.	TKM	PTS	5-0
6	63.5kg	Semi-Final	RAKYSHOV, Darkan	KAZ	SINGH, Thiba	IND	RSCH	0200
7	71kg	Semi-Final	BAMRUNG, Udorn	THA	ISRAILOV, B.	UZB	PTS	5-0
8	81kg	Semi-Final	TANRUTAJANVONG, T.	THA	KIM, Kwang-Yul	KOR	PTS	5-0
9	91kg	Semi-Final	KUTIBAE, I.	UZB	SEO, Sang, Deuk	KOR	RSCH	0100

Results 14 December

Session 1 15:00

#	EVENT	BOUT	WINNER	CTRY		CTRY	COD	RESULT
10	45kg	Semi-Final	USYPOV, K	UZB	RODRIGO, Luic	PH	PTS	5-0
11	51kg	Semi-Final	KURBANOV, V.	TKM	SEE TAPE, Phillip	MAS	KOH	0200
12	51kg	Semi-Final	HOM, Boun	LAO	TONG, Wing-Lung	MAC	RSCB	0200
13	57kg	Semi-Final	CHU, Kuok- Va	MAC	GUMBA, Udumdit-E	MAS	PTS	5-0
14	60kg	Semi-Final	HEO, Ji-Hoon	KOR	SRITHONG, Samaan	THA	W.O.	0:00
15	67kg	Semi-Final	SRIHABUTR, Somporn	THA	SOBIR, Aminov	UZB	PTS	5-0
16	67kg	Semi-Final	NAMETOV, Dulkun	KAZ	KIM, Hyu-Ou	KOR	PTS	5-0
17	75kg	Semi-Final	PARK, Kyung-Kwan	KOR	HAIRULIN, I.	UZB	TPS	5-0

Results 16 December

Session 1 15:00

#	EVENT	BOUT	WINNER	CTRY		CTRY	COD	RESULT
18	45kg	Final	USYPOV, K.	UZB	TU, Nguyen-Vu	VIE	RSCO	0300
19	48kg	Final	NOY,Tick	LAO	RAGOT,Randy	PHI	RET	0300
20	51kg	Final	KURBANOV, V.	TKM	HOM, Boun	LAO	PTS	5-0
21	54kg	Final	BUNTHITAVONG,B.	LAO	GIAP,Trung-Thang	VIE	PTS	5-0
22	57kg	Final	CHU,Kuok-Va	MAC	SOUNTH, Khammanoune	LAO	PTS	3-2
23	60kg	Final	TAT LIYAM,Endin	MAS	HEO, Ji-Hoon	KOR	PTS	5-0
24	63.5kg	Final	OH, Joo-Hwan	THA	NAMETOV,Dulkun	KAZ	RET	0500
25	67kg	Final	SRIHABUTR, Somporn	THA	NAMETOV, Kulkun	KAZ	PTS	5-0
26	71kg	Final	BAMRUNG, Udorn	THA	IZMAILOV, H.	TKM	PTS	5-0
27	75kg	Final	YERZHANOV, Zhadiger	KAZ	PARK, Kyung-Hwan	KOR	RSCH	0400
28	81kg	Final	TANRUDTAJAVONG,T.	THA	PULATOV, D.	UZB	PTS	5-0
29	91kg	Final	KUTIBAEV,I.	UZB	ABUBAKAROV, Vakhit	KAZ	PTS	5-0

Result Codes

RES	DESCRI	RES	DESCRI
PTS	ON POINTS	RSC	REFEREE STOP CONTEST
RSCB	R.S.C. HARD BLOW TO BODY	RSCH	R.S.C. HARD BLOW TO HEAD
RSCI	R.S.C. DUE TO INJURY	RSCO	R.S.C. OUTCLASS
RSCC	R.S.C. COMPULSORY COUNT LIMITS	KO	WIN BY KNOCKOUT
KOH	WIN BY KNOCKOUT TO HEAD	KOB	WIN BY KNOCKOUT TO BODY
NOCO	WIN BY NO CONTEST	RET	WIN BY RETIREMENT
DISQ	WIN BY DISQUALIFICATION	W.O.	WIN BY WALKOVER

MEDALS/ COUNTRY

RK	COUNTRY	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE	TOTAL
1	THAILAND	3	-	1	4
2	LAOS	2	2	-	4
3	UZBEKISTAN	2	1	3	6
4	KAZAKHSTAN	1	3	1	5
5	KOREA	1	2	3	6
6	TURKMENISTAN	1	1	3	5
7	MALAYSIA	1	-	2	3
8	MACAU	1	-	1	2
9	VIETNAM	-	2	1	3
10	PHILIPPINES	-	1	2	3
11	INDIA	-	-	2	2
TOTAL	43

COUNTRY	MEDAL	AMOUNT	WEIGHT	NAME
THAILAND (THA)	Gold	3	67kg	SRIHABUTR, Somporn
			71kg	BAMRUNG, Udorn
			81kg	TANRUDTAJANVONG, T.
	Bronze	1	60kg	SRITHONG, Samaan
LAOS (LAO)	Gold	2	48kg	NOY, Tick
			54kg	BANTHITAVONG, B.
	Silver	2	51kg	HOM, Boun
			57kg	SOUNTH, Kkammanoune
UZBEKISTAN (UZB)	Gold	2	91kg	KUTIBAEV, I.
			45kg	USYPOV, K.
	Silver	1	81kg	PULATOV, D.
	Bronze	3	67kg	SOBIR, Aminov
			75kg	HAIRULIN, I.
			71kg	ISRAILOV, B.
KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ)	Gold	1	75kg	YERZHANOV, Zhadiger
	Silver	3	63kg	RAKYSHOV, Darkham
			67kg	NAMETOV, Dulkun
			91kg	ABUBAKAROV, Vakhit
	Bronze	1	78kg	SUVAZOV, Kamal
KOREA (KOR)	Gold	1	63.5kg	OH, Joo-Hwan
	Silver	2	75.5kg	PARK, Kyung-Hwan
			60kg	HEO, Ji-Hoon
	Bronze	3	81kg	KIM, Hyun-Ou
TURKMENISTAN (TKM)	Gold	1	51kg	KURBANOV, V.
	Silver	1	71kg	IZMAILOV, H.
	Bronze	1	63.5kg	KHAITOV, Y.
MALAYSIA (MAS)	Gold	1	60kg	TAT LIYAM, Endin
	Bronze	2	57kg	GUMBA, Udumdit-e
			51kg	SEE TAPE, Phillip
MACAU (MAC)	Gold	1	57kg	CHU, Kuok-Va
	Bronze	1	51kg	TONG, Wing-Lung
VIETNAM (VIE)	Silver	2	54kg	GIAP, Trung-Thang
			54kg	TU, Nguyen-Vu
	Bronze	1	54kg	NGUYEN, Nguc-Trung
PHILIPPINES (PHI)	Silver	1	48kg	RAGOT, Randy
	Bronze	2	54kg	BALTAZA, Rodolfo
			45kg	RODRIGO, Luis
INDIA (IND)	Bronze	2	63.5kg	SINGH, Thaiba
			54kg	SHAH, Alaudin