Hosts Burma have already won six gold medals and one silver – and the opening ceremony of the SEA Games is still three days away.

Due to a cramped schedule, several sports are being held ahead of the official opening of the games, one of which, chinlone, is Burma’s national sport.

Burma has won four gold medals in the event, two each for both the men’s and women’s teams. Burmese athletes also collected two golds and a silver from wushu’s Taolu event to lead the medal tally on Saturday.

Thailand is second with two golds, a silver and a bronze; Vietnam is third with a medal in each color.

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The highly anticipated men’s football matches kicked off on Saturday in Rangoon where Thailand beat Timor Leste 3-1 before Burma made a strong start to their qualifying group with a hard-fought 3-0 win over Cambodia.

Zaw Min Tun opened the scoring in the 16th minute for Burma before Kyaw Ko Ko scored twice to secure the victory. Burma’s next match is against Timor Leste on Monday evening.

 

In addition to the ongoing football, wushu and water polo events, the basketball and boxing tournaments begin in Naypyidaw on Sunday.