Taekwondo fighter Chanatip hands Thailand bronze

Chanatip Sonkham made Thailand proud on Thursday morning as the 21-year-old from Phatthalung mercilessly crushed Elizabeth Zamora Gordillo from Guatemala 8-0 in the bronze-medal match of the women's 49kg class in the 30th Olympic Games.

The medal is the country’s second in London after weightlifter Pimsiri Sirikaew handed Thailand the silver from the women’s 58kg class, the nation’s first Olympic medal in London.

Chanatip suffered a narrow 9-10 loss to Spain’s former three-time world champion Yague Enrique Brigitte in the semi-finals earlier. The bronze medal has guaranteed Chanatip the bonus of over Bt6 million from generous sponsors which include Bt300,000 each from Osotspa, McDonald’s, AIS, Siam Commercial Bank, Khaosod, Channel 7, ThaiBev and Ichitan, while Channel 3 will award each bronze medallists Bt500,000 aside from Bt4 million from the National Sports Development Fund. She will also receive a motorcycle worth Bt120,000 from Honda and Thai Air Asia air tickets worth Bt300,000.