Over half of those in Thailand say the nation will top the SEA Games medal tally
When it comes to sporting interest, residents are most keen on following football, volleyball, badminton, and martial arts
Following a Covid-19 delay, the biennial Southeast Asian (SEA) Games kicked off in Hanoi last week, where more than 5,000 athletes are vying for over 500 gold medals. Latest data from YouGov Realtime Omnibus indicates that Thai residents think their home country will be the best performer at this year’s Games, with more than half expecting Thailand to top the medal tally (52%). Adults aged 35-44 were most likely to place their confidence in their home country (56%).
Thai adults were next most confident in host nation Vietnam, with one-fifth expecting them to top the tally (23%). Fewer said Singapore (8%), Indonesia (6%) or Malaysia (4%) would be the top performing nation at the Games.
Residents also seem to be soaking up the sporting atmosphere, with almost all of those who are aware of the Games intending to follow them too (92%). Watching the competition on TV (70%) and streaming it online (53%) are the top ways residents intend to follow the Games, with those aged 25-34 most likely to do the latter (59%).
A further quarter said they would follow the news in the newspaper or online news media (26%), while fewer said they would watch the sporting events at a bar or screening (8%) or go as far as to watch an event in person (4%).
With the most popular reason for following the Games being an existing interest in specific sports (57%), YouGov also polled respondents on the events they were most likely to follow. Football and futsal were the most popular sports among residents (56%), with men (66%) significantly more likely to follow them than women (44%).
Next up were volleyball (40%) and badminton (35%), with women more likely to express an interest in both sports than men (47% for volleyball; 42% for badminton).
Grappling and martial arts (31%) and athletics (30%) rounded up the top five sports among Games-watchers, with men and women expressing similar levels of interest.
***Results based on 2,007 adults in Thailand surveyed on YouGov RealTime Omnibus. Residents who would follow the Games accounted for 1,100 of the 2,007 respondents. Data has been weighted by gender, age, region and monthly household income to be representative of the adult Thai online population (18+ years of age), and reflect the latest National Statistical Office of Thailand (NSO) population estimates.
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