Thai tennis bosses aim to bring home one gold medal from the Asian Games.
Suwat Liptapanlop, president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand, yesterday unveiled his players for the Sept 19-Oct 4 event in Incheon, South Korea.
"We hope to win one gold medal in the women's team event,'' said Suwat. "Our women's team won the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 title [of the Fed Cup] in February.''
He said a tennis champion in Incheon will get one million baht from the association, a runner-up 500,000 baht and a bronze medallist 200,000 baht.
Vittaya Sumrej, the women's team coach, said he was confident his players will win.
"Our opponents at Incheon should be the same as the Fed Cup,'' he said. "South Korea are expected to use new faces while China will be without Li Na and Peng Shuai. I think our opponents are not very strong.''
Paradorn Srichaphan, the Thai men's team coach, admitted that it would be very difficult for his players to win a medal.
"A lot of players at the Asian Games are professionals who play regularly,'' he said.