Thais set to pack a punch

thailand’s eight boxers are tipped to exceed expectations at the Beijing Olympics.

The Kingdom's chances of winning medals may not be high in other sports but boxing will be a different story as the pugilists are no strangers to success at the world's biggest sporting stage.

They began appearing on the boxing radar when Somluck Khamsing made a breakthrough victory at Atlanta 1996 after Thai pugilists previously had to settle for either silver or bronze medals.

Somluck's medal was not only the first boxing gold but also the first golden success the country achieved in Olympic history.

Somluck kick-started a revolution as Vijarn Pholrit and Manus Boonjumnong repeated his feat at Sydney and Athens respectively.

Their superb show has inevitably raised people's expectations, with at least one gold medal now becoming a minimum target.

There are concerns over the team's prospects in Beijing since it would be their first Olympics without Cuban coach Juan Fontanial, the man behind their previous success.

Although Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand president General Taweep Jantaroj has played down the significance of Fontanial's departure, he admitted that he was disappointed that the he was no longer able to call on the Cuban's services.

"There's no doubt that he was a good coach, but he wasn't the best. Had he been a really good trainer, he should have turned all our boxers into world-beaters and not just Somluck, Vijarn and Manus.

"Our fighters have plenty of potential and we could have had a strong team like Cuba. There was a gap among our athletes in the previous teams so Fontanial was not good in the coaching aspect.

"Nevertheless, it's a pity that we no longer have him with us. He was adept at psychology on how to motivate the fighters. They were more disciplined under his supervision. I could have felt more at ease, had he stayed with us," Taweep revealed.

Despite the absence of Fontanial, Taweep was positive about the Kingdom's chances in Beijing thanks to what he claimed was the best ever preparation for the Games.

"It's probably the finest training we have ever had. At least, we've had more time to prepare than the previous time when I just joined the association.

"The preparation is perfect in every aspect as we had full financial support from both the government and the private sector.

"I've also had time to oversee training by myself. We've fine-tuned our preparation by adopting sport science and introducing psychological technique to help strengthen the athlete's mentality.

"I assigned a personal trainer for each boxer in order to sort out individual weakness more effectively. The result is that we have a group of eight boxers, who are all capable of winning medals, not only one or two like in previous Games," Taweep said.

At a glance

Boxing events at Beijing

-- + 91kg (super heavyweight)

-- - 48kg (light flyweight)

-- 48-51kg (flyweight)

-- 51-54kg (bantamweight)

-- 54-57kg (featherweight)

-- 57-60kg (lightweight)

-- 60-64 kg (light welterweight)

-- 64-69 kg (welterweight)

-- 69-75 kg (middleweight)

-- 75-81kg (light heavyweight)

-- 81-91kg (heavyweight)