FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Thailand targets bigger gold hoard 

Thailand targets bigger gold hoard 

A HUGE army of 913 Thai athletes has been tasked with plundering more than 12 gold medals when they take on the might of Asia this summer.

The Olympic Committee of Thailand (OCT) has set a high target for the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia in August, convinced the Kingdom can improve on its showing at the previous edition.

Charouck Arirachakaran, OCT secretary-general, laid out his battle plans at the national athletics committee yesterday, with 467 male and 446 female athletes set to represent Thailand at the August 18-September 2 Games in Jakarta and Palembang.

The OCT man is confident Thai athletes can top the 12 gold medals they won at the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea, where the Kingdom won four titles in sepak takraw, two from cycling and one each in sailing, taekwondo, golf, bowling, tennis and boxing.

“I believe Thai athletes will perform better than they did four years ago overall. But I cannot predict how many gold medals they will win as athletes from other countries are improving as well,” said Charouck.

He pointed out however that as football is the country’s main sport, Thailand must show its supremacy here over other teams in the region. “This perhaps is even more important than the number of medals we will achieve,” he said. 

He expressed concern at the slow progress of Games preparations, including transport for athletes. 

Elsewhere, Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana is training hard in France with her new horse Frust Henry, according to a source at the Thailand Equestrian Federation. The Federation has not confirmed whether the Princess will take part in the Asiad, however.

The Princess took part in the 2014 Games and was a member of Thailand’s SEA Games dressage silver medal squad in Kuala Lumpur in 2017.

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