Thai squad are third in Spain
[TAEKWONDO] Chatchawal Khawla-or's gold medal in the men's finweight division helped the Thai squad to third place overall at the World University Taekwondo Championships in Valencia, Spain, on Saturday.
Chatchawal won Thailand's second gold medal at the tournament. On his way to the final, the Asian Championship winner trounced Ukrainian Stanislav Butomo 8-2 in the first round and routed China's Li Fu Yuan 7-0 in the quarter-final. Chatchawal also defeated American Nguyen Jonagsan 3-1 in the semi-final. In the final, South Korea's Park See-jeone threw in the towel during the last round and lost 4-1. In the women's finweight division, Thailand's Maenam Cherdkiartsak defeated Iliana Enava of Bulgaria 5-4 in sudden-death in the first round and overcame Japan's Motomi Takamachi 3-2 in the quarter-final. Maenam also had her third straight victory over Marcela Pereira Careoso Cruz of Brazil with a 4-3 win in the semi-final. However, last year's Korea Open winner suffered a 4-3 loss to the experienced Kim Suek-mee of South Korea in the final. In the women's heavyweight category, SEA Games gold medallist Rapatkorn Prasopsuk of Thailand did not raise a sweat in the first round as she received a bye and then the Asian Championship winner crushed Taiwan's Tsui Fang Suan 3-1 in the quarter-final.
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