LONDON : An heroic effort by 58kg weightlifter Pimsiri Sirikaew earned a 2012 Olympic silver medal on Monday night, with a second Thai barely missing out on bronze.
Pimsiri Sirikaew (left), gold medal winner Li Xueying and third-place finisher Yuliya Kalina of Ukraine savour their Olympic medals on the podium late Monday night. (Reuters photo)
Meanwhile, in the ring, Chatchai Butdee easily defeated his first-round opponent Eker Selcuk of Turkey in the 52kg division.
Weightlifter Pimsiri was stuck in sixth place as she came to her last lift in the 19-woman field. But she told officials to add four kilogrammes to the bars, and lifted 140kg - a record lift for the Khon Kaen native.
But the result was heartbreak for Kattikan Gulnoi of Bangkok, who finished a single kilo behind bronze medallist Yuliya Kalina of Ukraine in fourth place.
Rattikan Gulnoi dusts her hands and salutes the crowd, but fell just short of a medal. (Reuters photo)
On just the third day of full competition at the 2012 Games, Pimsiri and Rattikan were realistically Thailand's last hope for a women's medal.
Both Thais made personal-best lifts in the event, which has two parts - a snatch, and then a clean-and-jerk. Pimsiri and Rattikan both lifted 100kg in the first section, before their supreme records in the C&J.
Going into Monday afternoon's (London time) event, Pimsiri planned a snatch of 98 kilos, then moving to a clean and jerk of 128kg, second heaviest of the event.
Rattikan had planned a 95kg snatch and a C&J of 125kg.
But more than half the 19 competitors opted to lift 100kg or more in the snatch, forcing the Thais to step up their game.
After snatching 100kg on her very first attempt, Pimsiri ordered another 3kg on the bars - but then failed twice to make 103kg.
Even if she had made that lift, it would not have affected the outcome. The dominant Yi won the gold with lifts of 10kg more than second-place Pimsiri.
Chatchai, considered the strongest Thai hope for a boxing medal, built up a quick, 11-2 lead in the first round and never was seriously threatened. The final point total was 24-10.
The 27-year-old soldier from Prachin Buri next faces a far tougher opponent in the round of 16 at 3am on Saturday, Thailand time.
He must fight Robeisy Ramirez-Carrazania of Cuba, who defeated Katsuaki Susa to advance.
The 18-year-old Cuban southpaw sensation was Pan American Games winner last year.
In other good news for Thailand, Kittipong Thongsombat reports directly from the London Olympics:
Badminton stars Bodin Isara and Maneepong Jongjit defeated Adam Cwalina and Michal Logosz of Poland by a walkover in the men's doubles Monday to be assured of a quarter-final berth.
Bodin and Maeepong were leading 17-15 in the deciding set when the Poles retired after a player suffered an injury. The Thais won the second set 21-13 after losing 21-14 in the first.
It was the Thai duo's second successive win in Group B after beating Mohammad Ahsan and Bona Septano of Indonesia on Sunday.
With the top two pairs in each of the four groups advancing to the last eight, Bodin and Maneepong have secured a quarter-final spot with a group match to spare.
But their teammates in the mixed doubles, Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam lost to China's second seeds Xu Chen and Ma Jin 21-19, 21-12 in the second Group D match.
Sudket and Saralee are 1-1 after they defeated Chen Hung Ling and Cheng Wen Hsing of Taiwan 21-15, 21-16 in their opening match on Sunday.
The Thais now have to beat Peng Soon Chanand Liu Ying Gohof Malaysia in their final group game to advance to the quarter-finals.
In swimming, Natthanan Jankrajang failed to break her own record of 2:01.28 minutes in the women's 200m freestyle Monday.
She finished in 2:02.49 minutes in her heat and was 30th overall with the top 16 reaching the semi-finals.
In cycling, Juthatip Maneephan was disqualified in the women's road race because she didn't make the time cutoff.
In the canoe slalom, Hermann Ludwig Husslein failed to progress to the finals of the men's kayak (K1).
In the qualifying round, the Thai-German came in 19th place in the 22-player event with the top 15 reaching the finals.