Memorable Thai performance yields 18 gold medals

ASIAN GAMES:Taekwondo, sailing and jiu-jitsu winners deliver as successful campaign wraps up

Taekwondo star Banlung Tubtimdang, sailor Pinchanok Klaysomboon and jiu-jitsu fighter Orapa Senatham each stood atop the podium on Saturday, powering Thailand’s gold medal haul to 18 on the penultimate day of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

Banlung Tubtimdang defeats Iran’s Mahdi Hajimousaeinafouti in the men’s 68kg final to earn the solitary gold medal for the Thai taekwondo team in Nagoya.

Banlung defeated Iran’s Mahdi Hajimousaeinafouti 2-0 (6-5, 3-2) in the men’s 68kg final to earn the solitary gold medal for the Thai taekwondo team in Nagoya.

The lanky Thai fighter’s gold medal was almost assured by his close-fought rallying 2-1 victory over South Korea’s Mun Jin-ho in the semi-finals.

Earlier, Natkamon Wassana took a bronze medal in the women’s 57kg contest after she lost to Jordan’s Fadia Khirfan 2-0 (2-2, 9-8) in the semi-finals.

The sailing team clinched another gold medal on the last day of competition, thanks to the outstanding performance of Pinchanok, who won the girls’ dinghy (ILCA4) event at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbour on Saturday.

The 16-year-old displayed superb form, expertly mastering the wind conditions throughout the race before crossing the finish line to claim the gold.

Pitipoom Jaroenpon and Worrakan Saksriklom also won a silver medal in the youth mixed dinghy event, finishing behind hosts Japan, while Chanatkan Charoensuk picked up a bronze in the girls’ windsurfing event.

William McMillan also won bronze in the men’s windsurfing on Friday, following a gold-medal performance from Sophia Gale Montgomery in the women’s dinghy event.

After two bronze-medal performances, Orapa brought home the women’s 63kg gold medal after winning on advantages against the Philippines’ Alexandria Luz Enriquez.

Orapa’s victory marks a historic milestone, representing the first-ever gold medal for the Thai jiu-jitsu team at the Asian Games since the sport was introduced to the competition at the 2018 Games in Indonesia.

Miyu Suzuki won the 48kg bronze, while Nuchanat Singchalad bagged the 52kg bronze.

Sadom wins golf bronze

In golf competition at Kasugai Country Club East Course, Sadom Kaewkanjana finished tied second on 15-under 265 with Japan’s Kazuki Higa and China’s Ding Wenyi after the final round, with South Korea’s Kim Joo-Hyung (Tom Kim) winning the gold medal.

Higa secured second place with a birdie on the fourth hole of a three-way playoff, and Sadom took the bronze after one further sudden-death hole against Ding, who had the consolation of winning the team gold.

Sadom, Pongsapak Laopakdee and Poom Saksansin finished tied fourth in the team event.

Earlier, Arpichaya Yubol (67) finished tied for fifth on six-under 274 in the women’s individual event, nine strokes behind Pranavi Urs Sharath, who became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games golf gold.

Arpichaya, Patcharajutar Kongkraphan and Natthakritta Vongtaveelap finished tied fourth in the team event, while China claimed the gold medal.

There was disappointment in sepak takraw as the women’s quadrant team lost to arch-rivals Vietnam 2-1 (15-11, 15-17, 15-11) in the gold medal match.

The Thais headed to the final looking for revenge after their loss to the Vietnamese in the group stage, but their Southeast Asian rivals again proved too strong, repeating their victory in Hangzhou three years ago.

They ended the campaign with two golds (men’s regu and women’s team regu) and two silvers (men’s team regu and women’s quadrant), missing the pre-tournament prediction by the takraw association of a four-gold sweep.

In beach volleyball, Poravid Taovato and Pithak Tipjan lost to Japan’s Kata Kurosawa and Taito Mizumachi 2-1 in the bronze medal match.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s men’s volleyball team edged India 3-2 (25-19, 17-25, 25-21, 17-25, 17-15) to finish in fifth place in the tournament.

In rugby sevens, the women’s team lost to Hong Kong 7-5 in the bronze medal match.