Puripol seals Asian Games sprint double with 200m gold
Puripol Boonson won the men’s 200 metres gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan on Sunday, clocking 19.88 seconds to complete a sprint double after winning the 100m title earlier in the Games.
Puripol won the 100m gold on September 25 in a Games-record 9.90 seconds. He also set a new Asian Games record of 20.10 seconds in the 200m semi-finals on Saturday.
Puripol seals Asian Games sprint double with 200m gold
Jirapatchara Khan-onta finished eighth in the women’s 200m final in 23.65 seconds.
Thailand also secured a bronze medal in kurash, with Kunathip Yia-on taking third place in the men’s +90kg class after losing 0-10 to Tajikistan’s Sarkarmohammad Miehmamadov in the semi-finals.
It was his second consecutive Asian Games bronze in the event, following his bronze at Hangzhou 2022.
In badminton, Kunlavut Vitidsarn guaranteed at least a bronze medal in the men’s singles after beating Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long 16-21, 21-10, 21-13 in the quarter-finals.
Kunlavut Vitidsarn
His semi-final appearance gives Thailand its first Asian Games men’s singles badminton medal in 56 years. He will face Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan in the semi-finals.
Ratchanok Intanon was eliminated from the women’s singles after losing 0-2 to world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea in the quarter-finals.
Mixed doubles pair Ruttanaphak Upathong and Chayanicha Sudjaipraparat were also eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing to Chinese Taipei’s Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan.
In women’s street skateboarding, 14-year-old Variraya Sukasem finished seventh with 102.85 points.
The Sports Authority of Thailand said Thailand had won eight gold medals at the halfway point of the Games, with the golds coming from teqball, athletics, equestrian, sepak takraw and MMA.
Meanwhile, Thai athletes from wrestling, golf and rugby were delayed at Suvarnabhumi Airport for more than eight hours early Sunday because flood-related disruption left insufficient baggage-handling staff to load their equipment. Their flight eventually departed at about 8am.
Thailand entered Sunday with eight gold, seven silver and nine bronze medals, for a total of 24. With Sunday’s confirmed results, the tally rose to nine gold, seven silver and 10 bronze medals, for a total of 26, with Kunlavut’s badminton bronze yet to be formally added.