LONDON : Thailand's search for their first Paralympic gold medal in boccia reached an almost inevitable conclusion on Tuesday when they beat China 10-5 in the mixed team BC1-2 final.
Members of the Thai boccia mixed team BC1-2 pose with their gold medals at ExCel Arena in London on Tuesday.
With four days to go, Thailand have met their pre-tournament target of winning at least two golds after table tennis player Rungroj Thainiyom won the country's first title in London on Sunday.
As of press time yesterday, Thailand have claimed two golds, one silver and one bronze at the 2012 tournament which ends on Sunday.
In the boccia final, Thailand were in a class of their own although China had performed way above expectations to reach the gold medal match by beating top seeds South Korea on a tiebreak and fighting back from 4-1 down to beat Portugal in the semi-finals.
Having beaten Canada 22-0 and defending champions Great Britain 18-1 in the semi-finals, the Thais wasted no time in taking control of the gold medal match with some superbly accurate throwing.
The fourth end effectively put Thailand out of China's reach. Already 3-1 ahead, Pattaya Tadtong sent down a blue ball that seemed almost to glue itself to the jack.
China could not separate the balls and, when their supply was exhausted, Witsanu Huadpradit twice went through the narrowest of openings to claim two points and extend the lead to 5-1.
A brilliant ricochet by Watcharaphon Vongsa paved the way for Thailand to claim five points in the fifth for an unassailable nine-point lead.
China, who lost 8-3 to Thailand in the group stage, got some consolation points in the home stretch.
It was Thailand's second gold medal of the 2012 Games and 11th Paralympic title overall.
"The team did not only impress Thais but also Britons," said Thai Paralympic chief Chutinant Bhirombhakdi.
"Every player was determined to bring reputation to the country."
Also on Tuesday, Prawat Wahoram won silver _ his 11th Paralympic medal _ in the wheelchair racing 1,500m T54.
The 31-year-old crossed the line in 3.12.32min and lost to Team GB's David Weir by 0.32sec. It was the second gold of the London Games for the "Weirwolf" after winning the 5,000m.
In the same event, Saichon Konjen, who won bronze in the 100m wheelchair racing T54, finished fifth in 3.12.84.
Pistorius claims dismissed
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) yesterday said that there was no substance to allegations from sprint star Oscar Pistorius about the length of his rivals' artificial running blades."There is no evidence that any athlete competed on different size running blades," IPC media and communications director Craig Spence told a news conference in London.
"Unless the South Africans can come to us with some evidence that proves otherwise, it's something that we won't continue investigating."
Spence said that South Africa had made a formal complaint raising Pistorius' claims he was at a disadvantage in the T44 200m final because other runners were "a lot taller" and he could not compete with their stride length.
Pistorius' defeat to Brazil's Alan Oliveira was his first defeat in a 200m in nine years and means he will now not retain the three sprint titles he won in Beijing.
The 25-year-old _ the most high-profile athlete at the Games after he became the first double-amputee to compete at the Olympics last month _ said he had raised the issue with the IPC but it had fallen "on deaf ears".
He later apologised for the timing of the comments but not the substance.
Spence said they had spoken to national team coaches and found no evidence to back up the claims.
"When we put [the South African] allegation to the coaches there was a look of shock to be honest because running on different size prostheses or swapping them for races is extremely difficult to do for an athlete," he added.
Swapping blades mid-competition is against the rules. BANGKOK POST/AFP
MEDAL TALLY
Rank !G ! S! B ! T!
1. China ! 54 ! 43! 44! 141!
2. Britain! 24 ! 31! 26 ! 81!
3. Russia !23 ! 22 ! 18 ! 63!
4. Ukraine !20! 15 ! 17 ! 52!
5. Australia ! 19 ! 14 ! 22 ! 55!
6. USA !16! 16 ! 19 ! 51!
7. Germany! 11 ! 11! 10 ! 32!
8. Brazil ! 10 ! 7 ! 4! 21!
9. Iran ! 7 ! 4 ! 4 ! 11!
10. France ! 6 ! 9 ! 10! 25!
35. Thailand ! 2 ! 1 ! 1 ! 4 !
Prawat Wahoram finishes runner-up in the wheelchair racing 1,500m T54.