Pimsiri could add gold after Thais open account

Rattikan was unhappy with the outcome, though, and left the stage in despair, having to be consoled by Thai coaches after failing in her attempt to lift 132kg in clean and jerk. 

 “I should have done better as I lifted bigger weight at the Olympics,” said Surin native, who two years ago hoisted 134kg in clean and jerk in London. 

“But frankly speaking, I had a load of pressure on my shoulders before the competition, especially knowing that our country hadn’t yet won any medal. And there are some great competitors in this category, so I didn’t expect much actually. It was a relief to win a medal for the team and for the country,” said Rattikan, who won gold in the 2011 SEA Games.

Rattikan said making sure she looked good on stage was one factor in her success.

“I like to put on good appearance, or I don’t feel comfortable out there. I need to put on lipstick and paint my nails to boost my confidence. I guess I need to buy more cosmetics right now,” joked Thailand’s first Asiad medallist.

“Thank you all for the support and please send more support to the Thai athletes at the Games,” she said. The gold medal went to North Korea’s Ri Jong-hwa after an impressive 236kg while China’s Wang Shuai took the silver with 235kg.

The Thai weightlifting team is hoping to win a gold medal today when 2012 Olympics silver medallist Pimsiri Sirikaew takes the stage in the 63kg action.

At Dowon Gymnasium, Thonthan managed to claim the country’s second bronze on the day, shortly after Rattikan’s success.

Unlike Rattikan, Thonthan didn’t need to break a sweat after her opponent, Mongolia’s Munkhtuya Battulga, withdrew from the bronze medal bout due to injury.

Meanwhile at the Yeorumul Tennis Courts, Thai men’s and women’s teams’ hopes of winning a bronze medal were dashed when they lost in the quarter-finals yesterday. 

The men’s tennis team lost to Japan 1-2 in dramatic fashion. Pruchya Isarow lost the first rubber to Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6 6-4 3-6 before Thai No 1 Danai Udomchoke had the chance to level the tie serving at 6-5 in the third-set tie-break. But he squandered the lead and went down to world No 145 Yuichi Sugita 7-5 5-7 6-7 (6-8) in three hours and 20 minutes. In the dead-rubber, Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana won when Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama retired at 2-3. 

In the women’s quarter-final, Tamarine Tanasugarn blew away a 5-2 lead before losing to Chan Yung-jan 6-2 3-6 6-7 (4-7) in the first rubber before Luksika Khumkum tied it with a 6-2 3-6 6-1 win over Hsieh Su Wei. In the deciding doubles, Tamarine and Luksika were no match for Grand Slam champion Hsieh and Grand Slam finalist Chan, losing 6-2 6-2. 

In shooting, World Cup silver medallist Naphaswan Yangpaiboon was the first Thai shooter to make the final in the Games when she fired 289 in precision and 294 in rapid for a total of 583 points in the 25m pistol women’s qualification at the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range. 

But she came short when it mattered, hitting only 13 out of a possible 25 points to finish bottom eighth in 

the final. In the team event Thailand fired a total of 1,724 points for fifth place.