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Published on December 30, 2007

Sports Hub

Three main sport complexes at Hua Mark, Supachalasai and Thammasat Rangsit house stadiums and gymnasiums, zones for all kinds of support facilities, training tracks and public utility systems. Venues in provinces such as Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai and Songkhla also boast of several stadiums which have been recognised as the most modern in the region.

All these have resulted in Thailand being seen as an ideal global sports hub for staging major sports competitions. From August 8 to 18, the Kingdom hosted the Bangkok Universiade.

Thailand not only staged the biennial sports extravaganza, but its athletes also fared well to capture 29 medals, 13 of them gold, to finish sixth overall out of the 153 participating countries.

The country also hosted several major sporting events, including the World Transplant Games in September, the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in December, the world championships in various sports events such as volleyball, weightlifting, petanque and muay thai.

Mixed Fortunes

While Paradorn Srichaphan's tennis career has sunk into an abyss, his love life has soared. The tennis star barely touched the racquet this season due to a chronic wrist injury which has plagued him since last December. His ranking, which once rocketed to No 9 in the world, has plummeted to outside the top 700.

Even during this dry period, what came as a whiff of fresh air for Paradorn was his romance with Canadian beauty queen Natalie Glebova. 

Since that peck she gave on his cheek after a match in the 2006 Thailand Open, the love birds have been major targets not only for the sport columns but also for gossip corners of entertainment magazines and tabloids. Seemingly, Paradorn's personal life spoke louder than his results on court.

In March, rumour spread that they were planning a wedding. Paradorn denied it at first but announced his engagement with the 2005 Miss Universe shortly after.

The engagement ceremony held at the Sukhothai Hotel caught huge attention from the local and international media.

A multimillion dowry featuring a diamond necklace and a pair of earrings - 13 karats altogether - was arranged for "Piangfah", a nickname given by Chanachai, Paradorn's father.

Rumour had it that the Russian-born was to conceive, which promoted the announcement of their engagement. But the rumour remained just that.

Every move they made was news in the papers for the next seven months.

On November 29, they finally tied the knot. More than 1,000 guests and a large media contingent bombarded the Oriental Hotel to catch a glimpse of one of the biggest weddings of 2007.

Soccer Fever

he final showdown between Thailand and Singapore in the Asean Football Championship in February was probably the highlight of the year, considering the hype surrounding the fixture.

The game was played against the backdrop of strained relations between the two countries following the controversial US$3.8-billion acquisition by Singapore state investment arm Temasek of telecom giant Shin Corp, founded by ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Given the circumstance, the Thailand-Singapore clash took on the overtones of more than just a soccer match.

The already intense nature of the game got even worse after the Singaporeans claimed a 2-1 victory in the

first leg of the final through a contentious late penalty, which prompted Thai players to troop off the field

in protest, before play could resume.

The controversial defeat inevitably stirred up emotions in the Kingdom amid fears that the fanned sporting and political rivalry between the two would erupt into violence in the return leg. The possibility that tensions would boil over was underlined when disgruntled Thai fans protested the shortage of tickets on the eve of the match. Local fans turned up in large numbers at the Supachalasai stadium, providing a scene that had long disappeared from the venue.

Cheered on by a capacity crowd of more than 30,000, the home team failed to overturn the first-leg disadvantage as they could manage only a 1-1 draw. And in an anticlimax, there were no untoward incidents during and after the game even though the Thais ended up losing.

City Takeover

It was a watershed year for Thai soccer following the highly publicised takeover of English Premier League outfit Manchester City by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, who was toppled in a bloodless coup in September 2006, insisted that his US$164-million purchase of the City in July was purely inspired by his passion for the sport.

However, Thaksin's critics believed the move was a publicity stunt to keep him in the headlines and bolster his already considerable popularity in the soccer-crazy nation while in exile.

Whatever be the motive behind Thaksin's acquisition, Thai soccer reaped handsome benefits from the deal. Upon gaining control of the Lancashire club, Thaksin made no secret of his intention to bring local talent into one of the world's top-flight leagues.

Thaksin fulfilled his promise of providing a window of opportunity to the Thais by arranging a month-long trial for three national players - Suree Sukha, Teerasil Daengda and Kiatprawut Saiwaeo - in August.  Even though an attempt to sign the Thai players failed to transpire before the closure of the summer transfer window, the three Thais eventually secured what once was regarded a distant dream - signing historical contracts with City in November. 

Apart from snapping up local players,  City, who made their best start in a decade in the league under Thaksin's chairmanship, also revealed plans to open an academy in the country.

Show Goes On

Badminton players found themselves paying the price for their inconsistent display. Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam had climbed to the top of the world mixed-doubles table in May, but their fairytale was short-lived - lasting just over a week. The duo then slipped gradually to settle at eighth.

They made the finals twice - at the Singapore Open and China Open - but failed to take home a single trophy. However, the year was still noteworthy for the duo as they  conquered the top three partnerships in the world.

At the China Open in November, the Thais upset world No 1 Zheng Bo and Gao Ling and world No 3 Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen. The pair also stunned world No 2 Widianto Nova and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia in the semi-finals of the SEA Games, but had to settle for silver again.

After a blistering performance to shock world No 1 Lin Dan of China on way to his first Singapore Open title, Thai ace Boonsak Ponsana let his form slip as he crashed out at the second round of the following tournament in Indonesia and did not get beyond the quarter-finals thereafter.

His best show was on home turf when the Thai world No 12 managed to exact revenge on reigning Olympic champ Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the men's team semi-finals at the SEA Games.

Sudden Slump

Two prominent names in Thai boxing, Athens Olympics gold medallist Manus Boonjumnong and flyweight star Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, had a forgettable year after the two crashed to upset defeats, much to the disappointment of their fans.

Manus, who also won gold in the Doha Asian Games, was Thailand's best hope at the World Championships in Chicago in October, which served as the qualifier for the Beijing Olympics.

Not only did the 27-year-old light welterweight fail to earn the qualifying spot, Manus also bowed out of the tournament following a first-round loss to unfancied Japanese Masatsugu Kawachi. Pongsaklek's fortune was hardly better as his seven-year reign as the World Boxing Council flyweight champion came to an end to Japan's Daisuke Naito.

Naito's victory snapped Pongsaklek's 56-fight winning streak dating back to 1996, which included 17 defences of the WBC title that he claimed in 2001.