Although Indonesia, Burma and Malaysia have proved to be tough competitors against Thai archers at the regional SEA Games competitions, Surang Thaolipo won a gold medal at the biennial sporting event in 1997.

At the 2001 SEA Games, Thailand's Prawit Poljungreed also won a gold medal in the men's individual recurve event.

Surang and Prawit helped put Thailand on the archery map, but the Thai team's prospects at the much tougher Asian Games are not good. Since the introduction of the sport at the 1958 Asian Games, no Thai archers have reached the medal rounds. The South Koreans, however, have fared much better, not only at the Asian Games, but also at the Olympics.

South Koreans have dominated archery at the Olympics since 1984 when Seo Hyang-Soon won her country's first gold medal.

At the last Olympics in Athens, South Koreans won three of the four gold medals contested. As for the Asian Games, they have also dominated the sport.

At the last Asian Games four years ago, Korean archers won two gold, leaving Hiroshi Yamamoto and Yuan Shuchi to win the men's and women's individual titles for Japan and Taiwan.

"Our chances in Doha this time cannot be that high," said Sanguan Kosawintha, president of the National Archery Association of Thailand (NAAT). "We found it not easy to topple our rivals from Indonesia, Malaysia and Burma in the SEA Games.

"Here, it's the Asian Games, where world stars from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China are also competing. To match them competitively is an impossible mission.

"My archers almost missed the boat to Doha. Most of the Thai athletes had made the cut to join the delegation for the Doha Games. I only submitted the names of two archers to the Olympic Committee of Thailand and Thailand's Asian Games Athletes Preparatory Committee for consideration.

"I informed them that Narissara [Thinbua], who won a gold medal at this year's Asian Grand Prix, and Charun Thiengprasert, who finished sixth in the same tournament, deserved the Doha trip. They gave Narissara and Charun the green light to compete in Doha," he added.

"They are now taking part in a contest in Rangoon, Burma, and are due to return on Thursday. They are being trained by China's Lang Laiwen, but in Doha, we cannot expect a medal from either of them.

"Coach Lang is secretly confident that Narissa can make the grade at these Asian Games. He said she is capable of winning a bronze medal. I hope that will be a dream come true."

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation