BEIJING RECORD
WANCHAI RUJAWONGSANTI
Weightlifter Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon is so far Thailand's only champion - and sole medallist - in Beijing so the spotlight will be on her until another Thai athlete, if any, wins gold.
So who would be, or could be, Thailand's next gold winner? Boxer Somjit Jongjohor is probably the best bet.
Few have doubts about his skill and discipline. But in sports sometimes you need luck to become successful, and luck - or bad luck to be exact - played a role in Somjit's failure at the 2004 Olympics.
Having been the only Thai boxer to win gold at both the 2002 Asian Games and the 2003 World Championships, flyweight Somjit, then 29, seemed to be at his peak and was a favourite in Athens.
From the start, luck was not on his side as he was handed a tough draw with Cuba's Yuriorkis Gamboa awaiting him in the second round (round of 16).
Against Gamboa, Somjit fought like a champion for three rounds and was just two minutes away from reaching the next round.
The Buri Ram native built a three-point lead going into the fourth round only for the Cuban to throw everything at him in the final round which was enough to win the bout.
Somjit broke down in tears and I almost cried for his misfortune. Gamboa went on to win gold.
This time luck seems to be on Somjit's side. He got a favourable path to the podium with hot favourite Raushee Warren of the US slated to meet him in the semi-finals.
Warren beat Somjit in the final at the 2007 World Championships in Chicago. The other contenders in the Beijing tournament are in the other half of the draw.
Somjit launched his Beijing campaign for an elusive Olympic medal on Tuesday with an easy 6-1 victory over Eddie Valenzuela of Guatemala.
His bid for success was hugely boosted by Warren's shock defeat against South Korea's Lee Oksung on the same night.
Warren's loss might be a surprise but in a sense it was not a major upset. Lee is not a boxer who came from nowhere and beat the reigning world champion. The Korean himself was world champion in 2005 when he beat Warren on his way to win the title.
While the win was not a major surprise, the manner Warren lost the fight was. With 30 seconds left in the fourth and final round, the American was losing 9-8 but he thought he was winning. So he floated like a butterfly but did not try to sting like a bee and lost in his opener.
Thai journalists at Workers' Gymnasium were puzzled by Warren's move although many of them wanted him to lose because he was seen as the biggest threat to Somjit's road to the final. "Well done, Korea!" yelled a Thai journalist. "You (Warren) are so stupid. You deserve this," said another.
The talented Warren said afterwards that he heard his teammates in the stands yell "Move! Move!" so he danced around on the outside until the referee told him to engage.
The boxer and his handlers complained that Lee was awarded at least one point for a punch that Warren scored. This might have been true but had Warren tried to fight in the final round he could have won.
It will certainly be a fight Warren will never forget for the rest of his life. After two failed bids in the Olympics, it is not likely that Warren will make a third attempt.
As for Somjit, his mission is not complete with Warren's exit. The veteran will face Azerbaijan's Samir Mammadov, who is 13 years younger than the Thai, in the second round (last 16).
With his youthfulness and agility, Mammadov, 20, could be a threat for Somjit. He won the flyweight silver at the 2006 European Championships and a bronze at the 2007 World Championships after losing to Warren in the semi-finals.
Mammadov has been fighting in both flyweight (51kg) and bantamweight (54kg) classes. He won the 54kg title at the President Cup in Taiwan, an Olympic warm-up tournament a couple of months ago, by beating Athens bantamweight silver meallist Worapoj Petchkoom in final.
But Somjit's experience and determination should be too much to handle for Mammadov.
With everyting going his way, Somjit would have only himself to blame if he fails again.
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