Danai Udomchoke tastes glory after winning the men’s tennis final.

Danai beat out Korean Lee Hyung-taik to snatch the men's singles tennis crown in one of his best matches ever.

The Olympic Committee of Thailand had expected the 489-member delegation to fetch 12 gold medals at the most, while the Asian Games Athletes Preparatory Committee, chaired by Admiral Suravudh Maharom, expected 15-17 gold.

After 15 days in Doha, Thai athletes fought tooth and nail to capture 13 gold, 15 silver and 26 bronze medals.

A total of Bt96.6 million in cash incentives from the National Sports Development Fund will be awarded to the medal-winning athletes when they arrive home. The government has announced rewards of Bt1 million for a gold medal, Bt500,000 for a silver and Bt200,000 for a bronze, with the ceremony and reception to celebrate their success in the quadrennial sports extravaganza to be held this Monday at Government House.

In the previous Games in Busan, South Korea, four years ago, the Thai contingent had returned with only 43 medals, 14 of them gold, in an overall sixth-place finish.

During the past 15 days in Doha, Thai athletes - including HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, the granddaughter of His Majesty the King, in the women's badminton team - experienced the joys of victory and the pain of defeat at the Asian sports festival held amid athletic rivalry and the friendly ambience of social interaction.

There were some remarkable successes, amazing performances and stories from the Thai athletes at the Games.

The star of the Games could well be plucky weightlifter Pawina Thongsuk, who set the al-Dana Banquet Hall on fire with her awesome show of strength as she lifted a splendid world record-shattering 142kg in the women's 63kg clean and jerk event. She now holds all the world's three records - snatch, clean and jerk, and Olympic Total - in her weight category.

Her exceptional form also ended Thailand's 40-year gold drought in weightlifting at the Asian Games after Chaiya Sukjinda won the men's flyweight gold in the 1966 version in Bangkok.

As Thai hearts sank after the 0-3 loss to the host nation in the men's soccer quarter-finals soccer last Saturday night, brilliant thrower Buaban Pamang, regarded as an also ran in the Doha Games, defied all the odds to win the gold medal in the women's javelin.

It was Thailand's first gold from a non-track event.

Cueist Praput Chaithanasakun, the double gold medallist at the previous Games in Busan, proved that age is not a major barrier in life and there is no limit to what the human spirit can achieve. At 44, Praput partnered Udon Khaimuk to capture the English Billiards doubles event.

Well-acquainted with the winds and sea conditions at the Doha Sailing Club, where he bagged the gold at this year's Asian Hobie-16 Championships, experienced skipper Damrongsak Vongtim, who settled for silver in the Busan Games, altered his fortunes dramatically, emerging as the runaway champion.

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation

Doha