The Thailand Equestrian Federation (Tef) ironically faces the same situation they faced four years ago when Pongsiri - then a relatively low-profile rider - sat tall in the saddle as the country's biggest hope in the regional sporting extravaganza in South Korea after all the former team members had hung up their bridles.

However Pongsiri, who is better known as "Pookhai", rose to the occasion in style and won a gold medal in the individual eventing category, much to everyone's surprise. Unfortunately, this time he has decided to take a break, leaving the Tef struggling to find a suitable replacement.

After searching for someone to take over from Pongsiri by looking at the performances of youngsters in both domestic and international events, the Tef eventually found budding 16-year-old star Promthon.

Promthon proved he had the potential to follow in the footsteps of Pongsiri with an eye-catching performance at the Bates International Three-Day Event in Australia in September. The way the young rider - who has honed his skills abroad for many years - controlled the horse was reminiscent of Pongsiri. Despite finishing 13th in the individual three-day eventing category - the best result of any Thai riders in the tournament, Promthon turned in a scintillating performance in the cross-country session where he did not concede any points.

After showing such food form, the Tef picked Promthon to be part of their four-member Asian Games team. Although the squad consists of experienced riders, Promthon appears to be Thailand's best hope to retain the gold medal. Senior riders like Weerapat Pathikanan and Suphap Khaongam have performed inconsistently at international level, despite having many years experience.

"From our four riders, I think Promthon will be the only one who can make the cut to contest in the individual eventing division," said Feungwit Aniruth-Deva, the Fet secretary-general who was part of the winning team at the three-day eventing category at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.

"His performance in Australia proved that Promthon is an all-round rider like Pookhai. The only thing that separates the two is experience.

"However, the horse will be Promthon's trump card in Doha as it is the best horse the Thai team has ever had. A good horse combined with a competent rider should lead to a good result. Although I'm not sure if we can defend our title, one thing is certain - we will make it to the podium.

"I would like everyone to keep an eye on Promthon because the boy has potential to pull off the unexpected like Pookhai did four years ago," added Feungwit.

Feungwit said a better team management system would compensate for a relatively short period of preparation time and insisted the Thai team would do their utmost to win at least one medal, albeit not the same colour as the previous Asian Games.

Kitinan Sanguansak

The Nation