Olympic champ Panipak strikes gold in Spain in higher weight class
THE NATION
Olympic taekwondo gold medallist Panipak "Tennis" Wongpattanakit on Sunday won the gold at the Spanish Open 2022 in Alicante.
It was Panipak's first competitive outing in the women's 53kg class. She had won the gold medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's 49kg.
She pipped Spaniard Laura Rodriguez 2-0 with a scores of 8-7 and 2-1.
Her compatriot Phannapa Harnsujin won the silver medal in the women's 57kg competition, losing the final to Hatice İlgün from Turkey 2-3 with scores of 7-3, 2-7, 2-14.
Another Thai, Sasikarn Tongchan, had to settle for the bronze in the women's 62kg class after she lost to Sarah Chaari from Belgium 2-3 with scores of 3-2, 2-6, 2-6.
The competition, which began on April 1, used the “round system” in the best-of-three format.
