Panida flops as Thailand fail to open their account
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Panida Khamsri, a silver medallist in the World Championships 2011, had to settle for fifth in the women's 48kg weightlifting competition as Thai athletes failed to win any medal on the first day of the competition in the Asian Games.
The 25-year-old weightlifter from Surin province snatched 81 kg before lifting 102 for a combined 183kg which saw her finish fifth behind North Korea’s Paek Ilhwa, 187kg. In fact she went for 107kg in her third attempt which, if successful, would have propelled her to silver medal. But she briefly hoisted the barbell over her head before losing balance and giving up.
“I gave my all in the last attempt but I just could not hang on there and had to drop the barbell,” said a disappointed Panida who had lifted 109kg in practice.
Kazakhastan’s Margarita Yelisseyeva won the gold medal with a total of 194, followed by Indonesia’s Sri Wahyuni Agustiani, 187 and Uzbekistan’s Mahliyo Togoeva, 187.
There was no good news from the shooting arena for the Kingdom’s marksmen, who failed to book spots on the podium. In the 10m air pistol women’s team, Thailand fired a total of 1,126 points to take seventh place while Singapore shot 1,130 for sixth position, the best among Asean nations.
China won the gold with an unimpressive overall mark of 1,146, five points ahead of Taiwan while Mongolia settled for third with 1,140.
In the individual category, no Thai made it to the final. Pim On Klaisuban performed the best among the Thais by shooting 380 points for 11th place. Princhuda Methaweewong came 22nd with 374 and Naphaswan Yangpaiboon was at 25th with 372.
In the 50m pistol men’s team, Thailand finished ninth with a total of 1,627. Vietnam won the bronze with 1,670 and Singapore were fifth with 1,656.
In the equestrian dressage team, Thailand, which featured Her Royal Highness Princess Sririvannavari Nariratana, finished seventh with 64.289 points while Indonesia, with 67.316, took the fourth place, the best in the region.
In tennis, the Thai women’s team were pushed to the limits by Uzbekistan before advancing with a 2-1 win. Tamarine Tanasugarn gave Thailand a good start by beating Akgul Amanmuradova 6-2 6-4 but Thai No 1 Luksika Kumkhum lost to Nigina Abduraimova 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (5-7).
Tamarine and Noppawan later teamed up in the deciding doubles to trounce Amanmuradova and Abduraimova 6-3 6-0 in just 60 minutes. Thailand will take on Taiwan in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
In badminton, Thailand went down to Taiwan 3-0 in the men’s team. In the women’s team, Thai No 1 Ratchanok Intanon was upset by Saina Nehwal 1-2 games in the first singles rubber while Porntip Buranaprasertsuk was stunned by Sindhu Pusarla 0-2 games at press time.
