BANGKOK: Thai athletes secured another three medals from taekwondo and weightlifting in the Paris Olympics on Thursday (Aug 8) for a total of five medals.
Thai taekwondo star Panipak Wongpattanakit retained her Olympic title after beating Qing Guo from China 2-1 in the women’s 49kg category.
Panipak made her way to the final by beating Moroccan Oumaima El Bouchti, Dunya Ali Abutaleb from Saudi Arabia and Lena Stojkovic from Croatia.
Panipak won the final’s first round at 6-3 with a kick combo on Qing’s head and body. However, the Chinese practitioner rallied to win the second round 3-2.
Panipak wrapped the match in the last 30 seconds of the third round, landing two kicks to Qing’s head. Challenge requests by Panipak’s coach, Chatchai Choi, gave her the win 6-2, a fitting present for her birthday today.
On the weightlifting side, Thai athlete Teerapong Silachai won the silver medal in men’s 61-kilogram category for achieving a total of 303kg, 132kg from snatch lifting, and 171kg from clean and jerk lifting.
He also broke his previous record of 299kg in the Asian Weightlifting Championship in South Korea last year.
Li Fabin from China secured the gold and Morris Hampton from the US took the bronze.
Thai weightlifter Surodchana Khambao secured the bronze medal in the women’s 49kg category for making a total of 200kg, 88kg from snatch lifting, and 112kg from clean and jerk lifting.
China’s Hou Zhihui won the gold with 206kg and Romanian Mihaela Valentina Cambei picked up the silver.
Thailand now has five Olympic medals – one gold, two silver and two bronze – from taekwondo, badminton, weightlifting and boxing. – The Nation/ANN
