Duangaksorn adds third gold to medal haul

Duangaksorn adds third gold to medal haul

Weightlifter wins 63kg division while Busanan bags badminton bronze

Weightlifter Duangaksorn Chaidee comfortably won another gold medal for Thailand at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China yesterday.

Duangaksorn Chaidee celebrates with her gold medal yesterday.

Duangaksorn was in a class of her own in the women's 63kg division, lifting 106kg in snatch and 138kg in clean and jerk for a total of 244kg.

She beat silver medallist Svetlana Scherbakova of Russia, who could only manage a total of 228kg, and third-placed Tatyana Kapustina of Kazakhstan, who also hoisted 228kg.

It was Thailand's second gold in weightlifting and third overall at the second Youth Olympics.

The other two champions were weightlifter Rattanaphon Pakkaratha and taekwondo exponent Panipak Wongpatanakit.

With the three gold medals, Thailand have met their target set by the Sports Authority of Thailand.

With five days to go at the quadrennial tournament, Thailand have three gold, one silver and three bronze medals.

At the inaugural Games in Singapore in 2010, Thailand took home four gold and three silver medals.

Meanwhile, shuttler Busanan Ongbamrungphan earned a consolation bronze medal in the women's singles yesterday.

The 18-year-old, the country's best gold medal hope in badminton, beat Lee Chia-hsin of Taiwan 21-7, 21-2 in the third-place play-off.

Busanan lost to China's He Bingjiao in the semi-finals as she complained that she was injured during the match.

Following yesterday's match, Busanan decided to withdraw from the World Championships in Denmark from Aug 25-31.

Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, president of the Badminton Association of Thailand, said Busanan was injured before the Youth Olympics.

"She was not 100 percent fit for the Games," Khunying Patama said. "It is better for her to skip the World Championships to get ready for next month's Asian Games."

The withdrawal came a day after Boonsak Ponsana pulled out of the same event, also because of an injury.

Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

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