Published on August 18, 2005

[UNIVERSITY GAMES] Thailand’s dream of winning a medal at the World University Games in Turkey remain realistic with the athletics squad on the right track.

Two sprinters, Wachara Sondee and Nongnuch Sanrat, made it through to the men’s and women’s 100m finals yesterday. However, both failed to win a medal with Wachara finishing a distant sixth, although he set a personal best time of 10.58 seconds.

In the women’s event, Nongnuch produced a below-par performance to finish seventh. Despite her placing, Nongnuch still had something to be proud of – she was the only Asian runner to make the final.

In the men’s 200m, local star Sitthichai Suwonpateep made it to the second round after finishing third in his heat. Team-mate Sompote Somanmarangsri also made it through to the next round.

Jutamas Thawoncharoen and Yuangjan Panthakarn followed suit by qualifying for the women’s 200m. The second round heats for both the men’s and women’s 200m were to take place late last night (Bangkok time).

Former SEA Games triple-gold medallist Wassana Winatho also did well to make it into the semi-finals of women’s 400m hurdles.

However, in the men’s 400m hurdles SEA Games record holder Apisit Kuttiyawan came a disappointing seventh in his first round heat.

Meanwhile, the women’s volleyball team extended their unbeaten record on Tuesday night with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic. They have won five from five matches to top their group and will play Poland in the quarter-finals today at 5pm (Bangkok time).

“I didn’t have the chance to see the Polish team because every venue is too far from each other. But I have a game plan to be aggressive and mix up a variety of balls to tackle them,’’ said Thai coach Samer Thongdon-on.

In tennis, Orawan Lamangthong and Tientawi Phromjumrat advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles with a straight sets win over Brazil’s Renata Dias and Henrique Mello.

The swimming team ended their campaign and sank without trace when none of the six Thai representatives made it to the top 20. The team failed to produce any medals after seven days. In taekwondo, Patiwat Tongsalap won a bruising encounter against Russia’s Ruslan Osipov in the men’s lightweight division. Despite facing a stiff challenge from the Russian, Patiwat kept his cool to seal a berth in the next round where he would be up against Mahir Unalan of Australia.

Today medal prospect Yaowapa Boorapolchai, a bronze medallist at the 2003 Olympic Games, takes centre stage in the women’s 51kg event.

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