Taekwondo exponents eye Olympic berths

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2011
Taekwondo exponents eye Olympic berths

After storming to seven gold medals at this month's SEA Games, Thailand's taekwondo exponents take aim at London Olympic berths this weekend at the flood-delayed Asian qualifying tournament, being held at Assumption University's Bang Na Campus.

The Thai squad has already won one spot for next year’s London Olympics, with PenEk Karaket qualifying for the men’s under58kg division by winning the title at the World Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan. Looking to join him this weekend are three more Thais – Nacha Puntong in the men’s under68kg, last year’s Asian Games gold medallist Chanatip Sonkhum in the women’s under49kg, and Rungsiya Nisaisom in the women’s under57kg. Rungsiya enhanced the country’s reputation in taekwondo  earlier this year when she became the first Thai to win gold at the World Championships, which took place in South Korea.
The Thai exponents face more than 100 entrants from 40 coun