HONGKONG'S top wheelchair racer, Wong Chi-keung, has said he was satisfied with his second-place finish in the Vietnam race last Saturday, although his time was well outside his personal best for the 10-kilometre distance. Wong, winner of the Macau marathon wheelchair race last month, holds a personal record of about 26 minutes but he was more than two minutes off the pace in Hanoi. ''Part of the course was unpaved, making life very difficult for us because there were a lot of pebbles and it was very bumpy,'' said Wong, a 25-year-old data processing worker who contracted polio as a child. ''I think I did reasonably well considering the conditions but I must admit the winner was just too good. ''Anyway, this result is probably one of my best, especially because this is the first wheelchair race in Vietnam. It must be rated second only to my bronze medal win at the Stoke Mandeville Games two years ago.'' Thailand's Prasopchok Klunngern, an electrician at a centre for disabled people, led all the way to win in an unofficial time of 24 minutes and 40 seconds. Another Thai, Prasit Thongchuen, took third place. Wong and his teammates, Cheng Yan-keung, 17, and Chan Kam-tim, 29, were sponsored by the South China Morning Post and Cathay Pacific. Chan, the only female athlete among the 24 wheelchair racers, clocked a personal best of just over 38 minutes, while Cheng should benefit from the experience of his first overseas race. Meanwhile, American Doug Kurtis thwarted Hongkong lawyer Tim Soutar's hopes of back-to-back wins in the Vietnam marathon held yesterday. Scottish-born Soutar won the inaugural Vietnam race in stifling heat in Ho Chi Minh City last year, a race which most of the top international runners failed to finish. But this time the milder conditions of 25 degrees Celsius suited veteran runner Kurtis, who took top honours in two hours, 39 minutes and 14 seconds. Soutar was more than 11 minutes behind, with Vietnam's Trong Thong Huynh third. ''Doug and I took the lead after about five kilometres and we ran together for the next 10 or so when I started to struggle a bit and he just moved slowly away,'' Soutar said. ''My time wasn't that good but I'm ultimately pleased with the result, and to have finished second behind a world renowned marathon runner like Doug was worth the trip.''
