NAY PYI TAW : Wrestler Rithisak Prawan won Thailand's third gold medal of the 27th SEA Games yesterday when he upset Myanmar's Htun Wanna in the men's 60kg Greco-Roman final in Yangon.
Wrestler Rithisak Prawan wins the men’s 60kg Greco-Roman gold medal in Yangon yesterday.
The Ubon Ratchathani athlete came back from behind to beat his opponent 7-5.
"I am happy to win gold," said the champion, adding that good preparations boosted his confidence. "I was behind 5-3 in the opening stages but I was able to regoup and win."
He said he would give the 200,000 baht bonus from the National Sports Development Fund to his parents.
Under the agency's bonus scheme, a SEA Games champion gets 200,000 baht, a silver medallist 100,000 baht and a bronze winner 50,000 baht.
Thai wrestling chief Wangwan Suchantbutre said that his team should have won two of four gold medals on offer yesterday.
"But I am satisfied with our team's performance because several countries have improved," he said.
Wangwan has set a two gold medal target and he said his team should be able to reach the goal.
Thailand have claimed three gold medals overall, behind Myanmar (13), Vietman (six) and Indonesia (four).
The Myanmar Games will be officially open tomorrow and end on Dec 22.
Meanwhile, Thai shuttlers _ top seed Nichaon Jindapon and second-ranked Busanan Ongbumrungpan _ could meet in the women's singles final following yesterday's draw.
"They should comfortably reach the semi-finals," Thailand coach Sompol Kookasemkit said. "They are our best hopes to win gold."
Busanan upset Nichaon in the final of the All Thailand Championships in September.
Ranked 12th in the world, Nichaon got a first-round bye while No.18 Busanan will begin her campaign against Malaysia's Lim Chiew Sien today.
Nichaon said that she could not underestimate anyone particularly her second-round opponent who will be the winner between Gu Juan of Singapore and Bellaetrix Manuputty of Indonesia.
In the men's singles, Thailand's top player Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk is seeded second behind world No.8 Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam.
Sompol said Tanongsak had a chance to win gold because the Vietnamese has had a series of poor results lately.
"We can pin our hope on Tanongsak for gold," the coach said.
For the other three events _ the women's doubles, men's doubles and mixed doubles, Sompol said that his players could reach the semi-finals.
Khunying Patama Leesawadtrakul, president of the Badminton Association of Thailand, has promised to give a gold medallist 100,000 baht, a silver medallist 50,000 baht and a bronze medallist 25,000 baht.
