Golden Kunlavut is king of the court

Kunlavut Vitidsarn became the first Thai athlete to win the badminton men’s singles gold medal at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 yesterday, completing a day of triple joy for the Kingdom after earlier golds in men’s regu sepak takraw and esports.

The 25-year-old former world champion defeated Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 21-12, 21-16 to claim the title at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, becoming the first Thai winner in the discipline since it made its debut as a medal event at the Games in 1962.

The only other Thai medallist in the men’s singles event was Sangob Rattanusorn, who won bronze at the 1970 Games in Bangkok.

Kunlavut’s victory broke the stranglehold on the discipline by China and Indonesia, who have produced eight and seven champions respectively.

The Asian Games gold has now completed Kunlavut’s trophy cabinet, which also includes Olympic, World Championships, Asian Championships and Southeast Asian Games medals.

It was the second medal for the Thai badminton team at the Games following the men’s team bronze.

Regu redemption

Thailand got another gold from sepak takraw yesterday when the men’s regu team exacted revenge on Malaysia to clinch the title.

In a rematch of the gold medal clash at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, Thailand, the record holders with six previous Asian Games golds (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2022), delivered a superb performance to defeat Malaysia 2-0 (15-9, 15-8).

The win was redemption for their defeat by Malaysia in the men’s team contest, where they surrendered a title held since 1998. It extends Thailand’s record to seven Asian Games golds in the event, while Malaysia finished runners-up for the second consecutive time.

Meanwhile, the PUBG Mobile esports team added another gold to the Thai medal tally yesterday. Heading into the final day, the Thais held the top spot after a stellar performance in the first six matches the previous day.

Nuttawut Muensa, Sathit Thanormchit, Supachai Singkaew, Pawarit Wongthonghatsachai and Phumrapee Wannalertsakul completed all 12 rounds and clinched the title with 128 points, giving the Thai contingent its 11th gold at the Games. China took silver with 114 points and Pakistan bronze with 100.

It was the esports team’s first gold in Nagoya, following a silver in Naraka: Bladepoint and a bronze in Puyo Puyo Champions.

Boxer Natnicha Chongprongklang, the last remaining hope of the Thai boxing team, beat Japan’s Tsukimi Namiki 3-2 to reach the final of the women’s 54kg event. The 21-year-old secured a narrow split-decision victory (29-28, 27-30, 29-28, 29-28, 27-30) after three rounds.

The Thai-New Zealander, whose honours include gold medals from the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, the 2026 Eindhoven Cup and the 2025 U22 Asian Boxing Championships, will face North Korea’s Pang Chol Mi in the gold medal match on Friday.

Spikers reach quarters

The men’s volleyball team reached the quarter-finals after beating Kyrgyzstan 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-14) in their final Pool B match yesterday, while Iran edged Indonesia 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 17-15). Thailand progressed as pool runners-up with two wins, unbeaten Iran topped the pool and Indonesia were eliminated. The quarter-finals take placetomorrow.

In padel, which is making its Asian Games debut this year, Natalie Narkprasert and Dares Srirungreang kept Thai hopes alive in the women’s pairs by beating Kuwait’s Noor Hasan and Zenab Sarkhoo 7-5, 6-3 in the first round yesterday. They will face Saudi Arabia’s Areej Fareh and Alanoud Yamani in the second round.

The men’s pair of Arnav Rawal and Stefano Mocciola went out, losing 6-4, 6-2 to Japan’s Kazuki Tomita and Nasa Hatakeyama in the second round.

On Monday, the women’s 4x100m relay team won silver in a season-best 43.51 seconds, edging bronze medallists Japan by just 0.01 seconds.

It was the athletics team’s fifth medal in Nagoya. The quartet were Manatsada Sanmano, Sukanda Petraksa, Supanich Poolkerd and JirapatKhanonta.

The men’s 4x100m team, which included sprint king Puripol Boonson, finished fourth and missed out on the podium.