Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul, 15, leads quest for gold in Indonesia

Atthaya, 15, leads quest for gold in Indonesia

By Lerpong Amsa-ngiam 
The Nation

Badminton star Ratchanok Intanon poses with True SIM card.

The Thailand Golf Association is pinning its hopes on two gold medals at next month’s Asian Games.

TGA secretary-general Kittisak Chaimongkoltrakul said his body was targeting two Asiad golds, with teen prodigy Atthaya Thitikul a top prospect to win a historic gold medal in the individual category, at the Pondok Indah Course in Jakarta from August 23-26.

“If she can win the Ladies European title [last year’s LET Thailand Championships], she unquestionably is the heavy favourite to win the women’s individual,” Kittisak said yesterday.

Thailand have never won an Asian Games individual gold, the best to date being Budsakorn Sukapan’s silver medal from the 2014 Games in South Korea. 

Thailand’s best in any Asian games golf event was a gold medal won by the women’s team in South Korea four years ago.

Sadom Kaewkanjana, fresh from being crowned the Dutch Junior Open champion last week, hopes his current impressive form will help him make an impact, especially in the team event.

“The team event is very important to us,” said Sadom who also had two second-place finishes in two amateur events in Malaysia earlier this year. “We have three tough players while other teams generally have only two good players.”

The Athletics Association of Thailand hope to salvage their pride after returning home with just a bronze from Jamras Rittidet in the men’s 110m hurdles four years ago. Thailand used to reign supreme in the 4x100m relay but finished outside the top three in Incheon.

“Due to an issue with ill-discipline, we’ve reshuffled the men’s team with young athletes while the women are also young bloods,” said AAT secretary-general Supanat Ariyamongkol.

Supanat picked decathlete Sutthisak Singkhon as a medal prospect following his win at the 2017 Asian Championships.

Meanwhile Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) will provide food and telecommunications support for Thai athletes and media during the Asian Games and at the Para Games in Indonesia the following month.

The company said yesterday it had prepared a variety of nutritious dishes suitable for the Thai palate, including stir-fried chicken and basil with rice, and baked shrimps with noodles.   

CP’s subsidiary company, True Corporation, will also provide TrueMove H roaming SIM cards so Thais can make phone calls and use the internet during both events.

Meanwhile, Grand Sport have designed an Asian games national jerseys collection under the theme “Siamese Trirong” inspired by the national flag,  representing country, religion and king.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/sports/30350725

 

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