Princess runs with Asiad torch
[ASIAN GAMES] Thailand received lavish praise from Qatari officials for the Asian Games torch run, which was described as bigger and better than those held in other countries, with Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Narirattana one of the torchbearers yesterday.
The Asiad flame started its 55-day journey on October 8 - the longest in the quadrennial tournament's history - and so far has visited India, South Korea, the Philippines, Japan, China, Macao, Hong Kong and Indonesia before arriving in Thailand on Saturday. The flame was taken to the Suphachalasai National stadium where a big celebration was held before the run began yesterday afternoon. The 13-kilometre torch relay run, which passed many of the city's landmarks, started when General Yutthasak Sasiprapha, the president of Olympic Committee of Thailand (OCT), ignited the torch and gave it to former Asian Games gold medallist and sprinter Suchart Jeasuraphap. The penultimate of the 39 torchbearers before the relay run returned to the stadium was Athens Olympic bronze medallist Yaowapa "View" Boorapolchai. The taekwondo expert then presented the torch to the Princess, who carried it into the venue where the official Ambassador of the Doha 2006 Torch Relay, Sheikh Joaan Bin Harmad al-Thani and other prominent figures looked on before the cauldron was lit. Major General Charouck Arirachakaran, the OCT secretary-general, said the Qatari officials was very pleased with what Thailand had done to stage the event, from the welcome party at Suvarnabhumi Airport to the celebrations at the stadium. Charouck added that the Qataris also praised the torch run as the best that has been held so far. The flame is now on its way to Iran and will return to Doha on November 25, five days before the regional sport extravaganza starts.
|
