Door still open for Rungrawee

Thailand’s beleaguered taekwondo coach Choi Young-seuk yesterday stressed that he has no qualms about giving his “disciple”, Rungrawee Khurasa, who accused him of physical assault at the recent Korea Open, another chance if she wanted to remain in the national team.

The 23-year-old Rungrawee caused a storm last week when she said she was severely punished by the South Korean after her first-round exit in the tournament, where results were taken into account to determine places at Olympics.

The accusations put the future of the long-serving coach, the man credited with the country’s rise as one of the continent’s leading nations in the Korean martial arts, in doubt. But after taking time to reflect on the incident amid overwhelming calls from Thai fans to comeback, Choi eventually returned to the country on Sunday night before publicly commenting on the allegations at a packed press conference at the Taekwondo Association of Thailand office yesterday.

The 40-year-old Choi, who has coached the Thai team for more than a decade, apologised for the incident and hoped things would end sooner rather than later. He insisted that the door was still open for Rungrawee should she still wants to represent the country.

“I would like to apologise to the Thai people for the incident. I didn’t think it would come this far. I really regret for the things that had happened over the last week. I had a chance to follow Koi’s [Rungrawee’s nickname] interview with Thai media when I was there and was sorry to hear that.”

Choi confirmed he had already apologised to Rungrawee personally after the incident and denied that he punched her face ten times as alleged by the athlete. He believed the incident was the result of Rungrawee’s lack of experience in competing in international tournaments abroad.

“After punishing her, I called her in to explain why I needed to do that. I spoke to her for about half an hour. If I hadn’t cared about her or expected a lot from her, I would have let it go and preferred to do nothing. She appeared to understand that. I also asked her to stay in Korea to continue preparations for Asian Games but she decided to leave the team and fly home. 

“I did punish her but it was not as serious as punching her ten times as made out to be. The punishment had nothing to do with winning or losing. I just wanted her to be more determined and put more focus on fights. She is one of the athletes I have high expectations in the upcoming Youth Olympics and Asian Games.

“I would like everything to end as quickly as possible in order to prepare the team for other tournaments. I’m ready to embrace her back into the team if she wants to do so. I am not angry with her. I don’t hold grudges. Of course, I am a bit disappointment because everything I do is for the good of athletes.

“I never want to hurt anyone. They’re all my family. I see them as my son and daughter, and Koi is no exception. She still has a future with the team. She can still go much further. If I have another chance to coach her again, I’m willing to do so.”

The Korean, who received a rock star’s welcome by a large cheering crowd at the airport on Sunday, also committed his long-term future to the Thai team. He further promised to bring an Olympic gold medal, which has eluded Thailand so far, to the country.

“I’ve been here since 2002. I love Thailand even though I’m a Korean. This is my second home. I don’t have a written contract with the association because it doesn’t matter to me. We work like a family. I don’t know how long I would be the coach of the Thai team but I can say that this is the last place I would be coaching.

“I promise that I would try to produce an athlete who will eventually go on and win a gold medal at the Olympics for the country,” he said.