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Published on August 19, 2007

China topped the medals tally at the international multi-sport and cultural festival that is second in importance only to the Olympic Games, with 32 golds in an overall haul of 87 medals.

It was sweet revenge for China after losing the crown to Russia in the previous Universiade in Izmir, Turkey, two years ago.

China had taken the overall title both on home soil in Beijing in 2001 and in the 2003 Universiade in Daegu, South Korea.

Russia yesterday overtook the Ukraine to move into second place in the medal standings, thanks largely to divers Konsantin Khanbekov and Oleg Vikulov, who handed their country the last gold medal on offer in the men's synchronised 10-metre platform event.

Russia finished with a haul of 28 gold, 27 silver and 29 bronze medals. In third place with seven fewer silvers was the Ukraine (28-20-18), followed by Japan (19-15 22) and South Korea (15-18-18) in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Sixty-seven countries won medals at this Universiade, while athletes from 92 nations will be going home empty-handed but with good memories and new friends.

Of the six medals up for grabs on the final day, China bagged two and Mexico and Russia one apiece in the diving competition, while Lithuania took the men's basketball crown and Turkey retained their men's volleyball crown.

Enjoying a home-crowd advantage, 389 Thai athletes pitted their skills against more than 10,000 overseas athletes vying for 236 golds in 15 sporting disciplines.

The Thai contingent had finished a distant 31st in Izmir, winning three medals in taekwondo, including the unprecedented gold from Patiwat Thongsalap.

This time, the home team had set a target of winning 10 gold medals but ended up with the lucky number 13, well beyond everyone's expectations.

With a Bt1-million cash incentive promised to each gold medallist, Bt500,000 to silver medallists and Bt200,000 to the bronze medallists, the National Sports Development Fund is expected to pay out more than Bt50 million.

The sports associations to which the athletes belong, as well as their coaches, will also receive cash incentives from the fund.

Of the 13 gold medals won by the host nation's athletes, the three taekwondo golds won by Patiwat Thongsalap (men's under-72kg), Chutchawal Khawla-or (men's under-54kg) and Mae-num Chirdkiatisak (women's under-47kg) probably created the greatest feelings of pride.

And with another four silver medals, the Thai taekwondo team - many of them Olympic medallists and world champions - were the cream of the crop. Their success here has served a warning to the taekwondo world that they are among the strongest rivals to be reckoned with, especially at the next year's Beijing Olympics.

The Kingdom's 10 other golds came from world No 9 and Singapore Open champion Boonsak Ponsana in the men's badminton singles, Sudket Prapakamol and Phattapol Ngernsrisuk in the men's doubles and in the mixed team; Danai Udomchoke in the men's tennis singles and Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana in the men's doubles; promising women's javelin-thrower Buaban Pamang with a personal best of 61.4 metres; the men's 4x100m relay quartet; deadeye Janejira Srisongkram in the women's double trap; the women's 50-metre rifle prone team; and the men's golf team.

All good things always come to an end, but at the end of the 24th Universiade, Thailand received a big thumbs up from George E Killian, president of the International University Sports Federation, for its excellent preparation and a well-organised Universiade.

Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, will host the 25th Universiade from July 1-12, 2009, featuring a total of 21 sporting events.

Preechachan  Wiriyanupappong

The Nation