It was doom and gloom for Thais in the taekwondo competition at the Qatar Sports Club. Their dreams of taking home two gold medals on Thursday were dashed and they left the battleground with nothing to show but a sour taste in their mouths and three medals, including two silver.

Gold-medal hopeful Patiwat Thongsilap, who burst into prominence last year when he captured the first and only gold medal for Thailand at the Izmir-hosted World University Games in Turkey, was the first Thai to fall. The gold medallist at this year's Bangkok World Cup Team Championship fell to the guiles of Chinese Wang Hao in the men's 72kg quarter-finals, losing 0-1.

"I'm disappointed. I hurt my knee and right thigh in the previous match against Kazakhstan's Yesbol Sultanov. I let my country down and I apologise," said Patiwat, who fell at the first hurdle in this year's Asian Championships in Bangkok.

Thai sensation Yaowapa Boorapolchai, who made the country proud by winning a bronze at the Athens Olympic Games, was another gold-medal prospect in Doha. However, she failed to go the distance.

Yaowapa, a gold medallist at this year's Asian Championships and the Bangkok World Cup, succumbed 2-0 to Taiwanese Yang Shu Chun in the women's 47kg semi-finals and had to be content with a bronze.

Yang is a strong contender here as her credentials are quite strong. She won the gold in the World University Championships in Valencia, Spain, this year.

 "I wasn't feeling well. It was cold and my warm-up was not good enough. I think I made many half-hearted attempts. My feet and legs were too heavy and I was unable to lift it to land a kick. It clearly wasn't my day," said Yaowapa, a silver medallist at the World Universiade last year.

"There are many major tournaments coming up such as the SEA Games, the World Championships and the World University Games. I will try and do my best there and I hope I can make amends in the Olympics in Beijing," the Busan Asiad silver medallist said.

The Kingdom's two silver medals came from Chonnapas Premwaew and Vasawat Somsawang in the women's 63kg and the men's 54kg categories.

It was an encore for Chonnapas, a bronze medallist in the World Championships in Madrid last year, who brought home a silver from the Busan Games four years ago. On Thursday, she went down to Taiwanese star Su Li Wen 0-1 in the gold medal showdown.

Thai teenager Vasawat picked up a silver medal in the men's 54kg after going down in a nail-biting match 1-0 to Mohammad al-Bakhit, who made history by becoming the first athlete from Jordan to win an Asian Games gold medal.

The Thai-Jordanian match had a touch of controversy with the deciding point being awarded after no judges scored the point. In the last 36 seconds of the fourth round decider, and amid a quick exchange of aggressive kicks, the judges were called to the centre court for a brief deliberation. After this the referee awarded the point to Al Bahkit.

The Thai fans inside the hall vented their fury and frustration. The Taekwondo Association of Thailand led by its secretary-general Pimol Srivikorn and team manager and coach Tin Paowongsakul decided to launch a protest against the judges' decision. But it went in vain.

The Thai teenager actually had a good run into the semi-finals, dispatching Nepal's Kumar Manandhar with a 5-1 victory, Tajikistan's Nashkidin Vorisov 3-2 and then Renat Kuralbeyev from Kazakhstan 4-0.

"I did my best. I'm not angry with the way the judges ruled although my supporters said that the decision was biased," Vasawat, 17, said.

"I jump-kicked on his head in the last second which should have fetched me a point," the Games debutant added. Two more Thais - Natthaya Sangsasiton and Nutthapong Tewawetchapong - were due to compete yesterday in the women's 51kg and the men's 58kg category respectively.

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation

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