Watchara blazes track, crowned fastest man
[ATHLETICS] On what turned out to be a field day for overseas athletes, sprinting star Watchara Sorndee underlined his credentials as the Kingdom's fastest man in the Thailand Open King's Cup Track and Field Championships at the Thammasat Rangsit Main Stadium.
The visitors not only claimed five out of the 12 gold at stake, but also set two of the three records in the field event. Filipina Torres Marestella, the SEA Games women's long jump gold medallist, stole the limelight yesterday with a record 6.45m leap in her pet event. She eclipsed the Thai veteran Watcharee Ritthiwat's four-year-old mark by 0.09m. Chou Yi-Chen is no stranger to record books. The Taiwanese produced a record-smashing throw of 73.76m in the men's javelin to capture the gold medal. China Lining Team's Qiang Qin's 71.98m also broke the existing mark. Thai Terdsak Boonchansri, who held the record of 66.70m, failed to make a mark, covering 61.81m to finish a poor fifth. In the men's 110m hurdles, Kuwaiti Fawaz Al Shammari stunned Suphan Wongsripuek, the defending champion and SEA Games record-holder, with an impressive run of 14.49 seconds. Suphan picked up the silver after clocking 14.65. Indonesian Yurita Arianny Arsyad, a silver medallist in the SEA Games last year, proved her class here by snatching the gold medal with a powerful throw of 47.85m in the women's hammer. WMC Wijekook of Sri Lanka trounced a strong field of 24 runners in the men's 1,500m, winning in three minutes, 53.59 seconds. The women's 1,500m crown went to Thailand's Som-O Kaewmaroon after she stormed home in four minutes, 39.94 seconds. Team-mate Chokechai Jirasukrujee cleared 2.11m to win the men's high jump gold. Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought duel in the women's 4x100m relay event with Royal Thai Air Force and TOT-A gunning for glory. With the presence of sprinters such as Oranuch Klomdee, Sujirat Sukha, Patcharin Chandaeng and Nongnuch Saenrat, the RTAF proved too strong for TOT-A, which included speedy Juthamas Thaworncharoen and former track queen Suphawadee Khaopuek. Nongnuch anchored the RTAF to win the gold with a time of 45.95 seconds. TOT-A and Mahidol Athletic Club managed to finish second and third in 46.47 and 51.76 respectively. Brilliant Thai Keeratikorn Chanmanee made a tremendous impact in the men's long jump when he produced a jump of 7.82m to better the SEA Games mark and also the tournament record. The SEA Games record was established last year in the Philippines when Filipino Henry Dagmil jumped 7.81m to win the gold medal, while veteran Nutthapon Namkhanha set the tournament record of 7.72m seven years ago. The men's 100m race was undoubtedly the highlight of the day when Thai sprinter Watchara, who ran away with a gold-medal in Manila clocking 10.47 seconds, blasted off the starting block to cross the finish line in 10.67 seconds. Team-mate Ekkachai Chanthana came second in 10.70, with Taiwanese Liu Yuan-Kai third in 10.71. "I think that my timing is not that good. It's just because I'm not 100 per cent fit. I need more training to regain my top form. I think I could peak and should be ready to for the Asian Games in Doha in December," said Watchara. Boonthung Srisang captured the meet's first gold medal in the men's 10,000m, clocking 32:46.60 secs. Preechachan Wiriyanupappong The Nation Pathum Thani
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