Provided the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak doesn't take a turn for the worst, 2021 will be an exciting year for Thai athletes and fans with two multisport international events -- the Olympics and the SEA Games -- on the cards.
The Olympics, which were postponed last year but are still called Tokyo 2020, are scheduled to take place from July 24-Aug 8, while the SEA Games in Vietnam will be held from Nov 21-Dec 2.
Also, Thailand will host three premier badminton tournaments this month at Muang Thong Thani's Impact Arena.
The Thai national football team, meanwhile, will resume their World Cup qualifying campaign for the 2022 finals.
Medal hopefuls in Tokyo
Seventeen Thai athletes have earned berths at the Tokyo Olympics including taekwondo fighter Panipak Wongpattanakit, boxer Chatchai-decha Butdee and shooter Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit.
Several other Thai athletes also have virtually secured tickets to the Games including badminton stars Ratchanok Intanon in the women's singles and Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the mixed doubles, and golfer Ariya Jutanugarn.
Since Thailand first took part in the Olympics in 1952, they have won nine gold medals in only two sports -- weightlifting (five) and boxing (four).
With the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (Tawa) suspended from participating in international events over doping and boxers looking unconvincing, Panipak is seen as Thailand's best gold medal hope in Tokyo.
The 23-year-old, who won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, is the top exponent in the women's 49kg division.
Nicknamed 'Tennis', the Surat Thani native has won two world titles and an Asian Games gold medal at the 2018 tournament.
She needs an Olympic gold medal to complete her glittering collection.
It was unfortunate for Panipak that the Tokyo Games were postponed last year as she was at her peak. However, her handlers remain confident that she will go all the way at Tokyo 2020.
Meanwhile, world No.5 shuttler Ratchanok can beat anyone on her day.
Ratchanok will be competing in her third Games, having come close to reaching the semi-finals in her Olympic debut at London 2012.
It will be skeet shooter Sutiya's fourth appearance at the Olympics after finishing fifth at Beijing 2008 in her Games debut.
She won gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia among other achievements.
Veteran boxer Chatchai-decha, a four-time SEA Games champion, is hoping his third Olympics will yield a career-capping medal in the featherweight division, after he was defeated in early rounds in 2012 and 2016.
Shuttler Ratchanok Intanon will lead the Thai challenge in three tournaments in Bangkok this month. PR
Major badminton events
Thailand will host three premier badminton tournaments in Bangkok this month.
They are the Jan 12-17 Yonex Thailand Open, the Jan 19-24 Toyota Thailand Open and the Jan 27-31 HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2020.
The first two events, both Super 1000 tournaments, offer a total purse of US$1 million each, while the 2020 season finale has a total prize fund of $1.5 million.
The tournaments at Muang Thong Thani's Impact Arena will be held without spectators and under strict Covid-19 protocols.
The events were deprived of some star attractions yesterday when the Japanese federation cancelled their trip to Bangkok after Kento Momota, the top-ranked men's singles player in the world, tested positive for coronavirus before boarding the plane.
The men's competitions will be now led by No.2 Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan, and No.3 Anders Antonsen and No.4 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
The women's event lost No.3 Akane Yamaguchi and No.4 Nozomi Okuhara to the Japanese decision, leaving No.1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan and No.6 Carolina Marin of Spain as the top names in the field.
The Thai challenge will be led by Ratchanok, who is ranked fifth in the women's singles, and world No.3 mixed doubles duo Dechapol and Sapsiree.
Despite a surge in Covid-19 cases, organisers remain confident that the three tournaments will go ahead as scheduled.
The Chinese Badminton Association has withdrawn its players from the Bangkok events due to travel restrictions.
Thai footballer Chanathip Songkrasin, centre, in action against Vietnam in a World Cup qualifier in Rangsit in 2019. PATTARAPONG CHATPATTARASILL
World Cup qualifiers
The Thai national football team, led by playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin, have a mountain to climb to keep their hopes of advancing to the third and final stage of Asia's qualifying round for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
When matches were suspended last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the War Elephants, coached by Japanese Akira Nishino, were third in Group G with eight points after five games, three behind leaders Vietnam and one fewer than Malaysia's tally.
The United Arab Emirates have six points with a game in hand while Indonesia are still chasing their first point in the pool.
Fate is not in Thailand's hand as eight group winners and four best runners-up progressing to the next stage.
Play is scheduled to resume in March with Thailand's remaining games being at home to Indonesia and Malaysia and away at the UAE.
On the domestic front, it seems BG Pathum United are running away with the Thai League 1 title.
After 16 matches, Pathum have 44 points, 10 ahead of Port who have a game in hand.
Asean extravaganza
The 31st SEA Games will be held in Hanoi from Nov 21-Dec 2.
With 11 member countries, the tournament will have 529 gold medals on offer in 40 sports including kickboxing, kurash, jujutsu, vovinam and finswimming.
As usual, some countries, including Thailand, have complained about the inclusion and exclusion of certain sports and events.
However, the sports line-up and the number of gold medals can still be changed.
As the event will be held after the Olympics, it will be a venue for some athletes to seek consolation prizes after their failures in Tokyo.
Thailand will be hoping to regain the overall crown after finishing third behind the hosts Philippines and Vietnam in the previous tournament in 2019.
The Philippines comfortably claimed the overall title on home soil with 149 gold medals with Vietnam taking home 98 and Thailand 92.
Golfer Atthaya Thitikul won five Thai LPGA tournaments last year. PR
Teenage prodigy
While Thailand's top professionals like Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Jazz Janewattananond and sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn failed to shine in the coronavirus-hit 2020 season, young star Atthaya Thitikul was in a class of her own on the domestic tour.
The 17-year-old turned professional early last year after winning two events on the Ladies European Tour (LET) when she was an amateur.
She wanted to hone her skills on the LET during the early stages of her professional career.
Unfortunately, her plan was affected by Covid-19 and travel restrictions so she had to mainly compete on the Thai LPGA Tour last year.
The Ratchaburi native won five tournaments on the circuit and claimed 1.29 million baht in prize money.
She was the runaway money champion and was named the Thai LPGA Tour player of the year.
Atthaya again plans to play on the LET this year before trying to seal the LPGA Tour membership.