OLYMPIC
KITTIPONG THONGSOMBAT
Wiradech Kothny |
Fencing is one of the oldest Olympic sports but Thailand took part in the discipline for the first time at the 2004 Games. Sabre specialist Wiradech ''Willi'' Kothny was the first Thai fencer to have competed in the Olympics when he represented the country in Athens.
Wiradech, who won two bronze medals for Germany at the 2000 Sydney Games, will be competing under the Thai flag for the second time in Beijing.
Nontapat Panchan will make his Olympic debut at the 2008 Games in the men's individual foil.
Wiradech, who was adopted by a German journalist and grew up in that country, returned to the country of his birth a few years after the Sydney Games.
He has since regained Thai citizenship and played for Thailand with little success. He has complained about lack of facilities and training partners and often trained overseas.
Wiradech knows that there are too many good players standing in his way so he has not set a target for the Beijing Games.
''All I want is do my best to prove that a Thai fencer can play at the top level,'' he said.
Arichai Kunwimon-prathip, assistant secretary-general of the Amateur Fencing Association of Thailand (Afat), said both Wiradech and Nontapat had been training hard.
They trained and competed overseas particularly in Germany where they could get good training partners, Arichai said.
''In Thailand, they can't find good training partners because they are much better than the others,'' he said.
''Wiradech has experience, while Nontapat has been improving fast.''
He admitted that it was difficult for the association to financially support them both because it had not been given any support by the government.
It is also hard for Afat to seek sponsorships from private firms because fencing is not a popular sport here, he said.
''We have spent a total of about 12 million baht for Wiradech for seven years,'' he said.
Wiradech, 29, qualified for the Beijing Games through his world ranking, while Nontapat, 27, secured a berth following his triumph at the Asian Championships in Thailand this year.
Arichai admitted that it was almost impossible for the duo to win any medal. But he is still optimistic saying that a split second can determine the result in fencing.
''Anything can happen. We have to wait and see,'' Arichai said.
While world number 24 Wiradech has lost to a number of higher-ranked players, Arichai said there was not a big gap between them.
Nontapat, ranked 44th in the world, could be nervous in his first Olympics so Arichai only hoped for him to gain experience.
Wiradech and Nontapat will leave for Beijing tomorrow and will compete on August 12 and 13 respectively.
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