On what turned out to be a day of mixed fortunes for the Thai squad, gold medal hope Patiwat Thongsalap suffered a stunning 11-9 defeat to the little-known An Vitaliy of Uzbekistan in the first round.

"I had a fever the night before. I felt very stressed in the fight and I could not give my best today. My form was disappointing," said Patiwat.

However, SEA Games gold medallist Rapatkorn saved some pride for Thailand when she stunned Athens Olympics champion Luo Wei of China in a sudden-de   ath play-off after their bout ended tied at 5-5 after three rounds.

"It's one of the greatest successes I have ever had in my life," she said. "I had so much pressure taking on the Chinese as she is a consecutive two-time Olympic champion. Beating her today is just a dream come true," added the 21-year-old from Bangkok after her victory.

"Actually, I intended to call it a day since I have never succeeded in major international tournaments, but my coach [South Korean Choi Young-seok] boosted my confidence, saying that without dedication, no one will ever be successful in life. The credit for my success goes to coach Choi," she added.

Rapatkorn's victory, which also earned her Bt600,000 in cash incentives, gave Thailand an impressive haul of three gold medals from the Asian meet, two more than their initial target.

Meanwhile, world champion and the Athens Olympic gold medallist Hadi Saei Boneh Kohal of Iran was in awesome form yesterday, outclassing Syrian Deya al-Dah 8-4 in the men's lightweight final to give his country its first gold at the star-studded competition.

Shortly after that, welterweight division team-mate Kourosh Rajoly added the second gold to Iran's tally with an 8-7 triumph over South Korean Choi Seong-ho in a hard-fought encounter.

Powerhouse South Korea missed out on their second gold when Hwang Kyung-son, the world champion, a bronze medallist at the Athens Olympics and a silver medallist at the World University Games, sustained a leg injury and had to pull out of the final against Chen Ri Xian from Macau.

South Koreans Jin Chae-lin and Nam Yun-Bae salvaged their country's reputation in their own martial art on the final day, with Jin powering past Taiwan's Su Li-Wen 7-4 in the women's lightweight final. Nam, a champion at last year's World University Games, crushed Qatari Abdulqader Aladhami 6-1 in the men's heavyweight final.

At the end of the three-day meet, South Korea - the overall Asian champions for 32 consecutive years since the tournament started in 1974 - kept their place at the top. The South Koreans won 12 medals this time to retain their overall title. The Thai squad managed to finish second overall.

Preechachan

Wiriyanupappong

The Nation