The heroes of the last day take a Thai trip to 18

The heroes of the last day take a Thai trip to 18

Drivers Sujirat and Amnouy bag bronze

Badminton players Sujirat Pookkham and Amnouy Wetwitan earned Thailand’s 18th medal on the final day of the competition when the UK’s athletes finished the Paralympics with five gold, five silver and eight bronzes in Tokyo.

The Thai pair won Swiss Cynthia Mathez and Karin Suter Erath 2-0 (21-11, 21-12) in the women’s wheelchair pairs WH1-WH2 bronze race at Yoyogi National Stadium.

The 35-year-old Sujirat also won silver on Saturday at the sport’s single WH1, which made its Paralympic debut in Tokyo.

However, Jakarin Homhual and Dumnern Junthong were unable to double Thailand when they lost to Japan’s Daiki Kajiwara and Hiroshi Murayama 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) in the WH1-WH2 bronze race.

Thailand ended Covid’s delayed tournament with the same number of medals they had won at the Rio Games five years ago, but the previous campaign remained the country’s most successful with six gold, six silver and six bronze medals.

Four of the five gold medals won by the Thai team in Tokyo came in a wheelchair as Pongsakorn Paeyo won the golden hat trick, winning the men’s 100, 400 and 800m T53 races, while Athiwat Paeng-Nuea, who also won silver in the 400m T54 event, 100m T54 Championship.

The Boccia team, which also won in London 2012 and Rio 2016, did their historic hat trick and earned the country’s fifth gold when they won an impressive 8-2 victory against China at BC1 / BC2 on Saturday.

Wheelchair swordsman Saysunee Jana was Thailand’s first medalist in Tokyo in 2020 after taking bronze in a single epic.

Other medalists include bocce stars Watcharaphon Vongsa and Pornchok Larpyen (silver, individual BC2, individual BC4), wheelchair cyclists Prawat Wahoram (silver, 1500 T54), Putharet Khongrak (bronze, 1500 m and 5000 m T54) and Saichon Konjen (bronze, 800 m m) T54 event), table tennis star Rungroj Thainiyom (bronze, men’s singles, class 6), taekwondo star Khwansuda Phuangkitcha (bronze, women’s K44 49 kg), men’s table tennis team (bronze, class 3).

Pongsakorn has the chance to become the UK’s most successful Paralympic in Paris in 2024. The 24-year-old wheelchair cyclist has so far won five gold medals and can surpass 40-year-old Prawat, who has won seven gold medals.

Under the National Sports Development Fund’s Paralympic bonus scheme, the champion will receive 7.2 million baht, the silver winner 4.8 million baht and the bronze medalist three million baht.

‘Silver Bullet’

The sporting activity of the day began early in the morning with a marathon, and Swiss wheelchair champion Marcel Hug retained his T54 crown for 1 hour 24 minutes 2 seconds.

Badminton players Sujirat Pookkham, left and Amnouy Wetwitan pose for their bronze medals. PR

It was the “Silver bullet” of the sixth Paralympic gold in Hug’s career.

In the women’s T54 marathon, Australian Madison de Rozario grabbed the finish line ahead of Switzerland’s big Manuela Schaer and won gold in just a second.

“It was the longest 500 meters of my life,” de Rozario told reporters after reaching a paralympic record of 1: 38.11.

Elsewhere, the United States beat China 3-1 and won gold in the women’s sitting volleyball.

The United States also won gold in the men’s wheelchair basketball and won Japan 64-60 after returning in the final quarter.

In the shooting, Veronika Vadovicova from Slovakia won the mixed-form 50-meter rifle SH1 final when it was Anna Normann from Sweden and Juan Antonio Saavedra Reinaldo from Spain.bangkok post / afp