Thai sailors secure record four tickets to Rio

Thailand now stands second overall among Asian nations qualified for Rio 2016 Olympic sailing competition, just after Japan which has five tickets to Rio in sailing.

 

Named Asian champion in the Laser Radial women's class was Kamolwan Chanyim, a 20-year-old national athlete who reigned supreme on the water, securing her Olympic ticket a day before the medal races with a 20 points lead over her competition. The 2015 SEA Games gold and Asian Games 2014 bronze medallist credits former sponsor Kingdom Property among other supporters of her three year Olympic campaign for helping her achieve her dream of being the first Thai woman to qualify for the Olympics in a sailboat similar to what HM The King used to sail.

 

"I thank the Sports Authority of Thailand and the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand for giving me the chance to go to Abu Dhabi for the final Olympic qualifier. I thank my father and my family for pushing me to achieve my best and cheer me up when needed. And Kingdom Property which believed in me even before I had any outstanding results abroad. Without them, I would not have had the stairs to climb to this point," she said.

 

Malaysian youth sailor Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif won silver and her country's first ticket to the Olympics for a female sailor as well.

 

In the most hotly contested event on the water, 2012 Thai Olympian Keerati Bualong went into the Laser Standard men's medal race with the weight of the nation's expectations on his shoulders. While Malaysian sailor Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy had virtually secured gold, Keerati had only just held onto the second spot in the fleet of 41 sailors from 14 countries, three determined Chinese and three Japanese after his ticket with a six point difference which could easily be overcome in the double points medal race. A three hour wait on the water followed, organizers waiting for wind to build enough to start a race. In the lightest of legal breezes, the race began, coaches reporting Keerati rounding the first mark in a risky seventh place, recovering to third and then dropping to fourth, but a quick check of the finishing results proved he had managed to salvage silver and his second Olympic qualification.

 

The Windsurfing Association of Thailand's Natthaphong Phonoppharat went into the final day of racing confident of taking the first of two Olympic tickets in the class, his closest competitors on the water having already qualified at earlier events, but not so sure of holding onto silver. A fourth place finish in the double points medal race saw him pass silver to Hong Kong, but grab hold of bronze. Two time Thai Olympian Ek Boonsawad, now participating in more triathlons, finished 5th overall. Singaporean Leonard Ong, who finished seventh overall, won the second ticket to Rio in the RS:X  Men's.

 

In the RS:X Women's event, Siripon Kaewduang-ngam had a nail-biting medal race, only one Olympic spot up for grabs, Singapore just two points away from her week-long hold on silver, gold likely to go to Hong Kong which had already qualified for Rio. She managed to prove she has what it takes to follow in the wake of three time windsurfing Olympian Napalai Tansai, finishing well ahead of the Singaporean, securing silver and her ticket to Rio.

 

Young Thai 49er sailors Don and Dylan Whitcraft had a good start to the regatta, but eventually proved unable to deliver the consistency at the top required to challenge their more senior and professional Japanese and Indian competitors. The two brothers, both Thai citizens studying at university in the USA, are now planning a full time campaign closer to qualifications for Japan 2020.