>>Thailand's Peamwilai Laopeam claimed the silver medal at the Women's World Championships in Kazakhstan yesterday.
In the flyweight (51kg) final, reigning Asian champion Peamwilai suffered a 2-1 (40-36, 39-37, 36-40) loss to 2012 Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams of England.
Throughout the fight, the 32-year-old Thai found the powerful and pacey Adams too tough to handle. Adams is a three-time runner-up at the World Championships.
Peamwilai and Adams were sparring partners when the Thai trained in Britain earlier this year.
While Peamwilai is the first Thai to reach the final of the tournament, Adams, 33, added the title to her gold medals from the 2012 Olympic Games, 2015 European Championships and 2015 Commonwealth Games.
Both Peamwilai and Adams have earned their places at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Peamwilai said after her 2-1 win over Sarah Ourahmoune of France in the semi-finals a day earlier that her mission was completed by earning the ticket to the Olympic Games. She promised to work harder to win an Olympic medal.
As the silver medallist, she will receive a cash reward of 500,000 baht from the Sports Authority of Thailand and another two million baht from the Thailand Boxing Association (TBA) for qualifying for the Rio Games.
With her impressive performance at the world meet, the TBA is hoping that Peamwilai will bring home an Olympic medal.
The other Thais boxers who have qualified for Rio are male fighters Wuttichai Masuk (64kg), Chatchai Butdee (56kg) and Sailom Ardee (69kg).
The TBA expects to claim at least one more spot from the final qualifying tournament in Azerbaijan next month.