Thai taekwondo world champion Rapatkorn Prasopsuk, who vowed to
win the first gold medal for the host at the Universiade, suffered
stunning exit in the first round of women's over 72 category on
Thursday.
Rapatkorn, who won last year's World Cup Taekwondo Team
Championships (WTF) and Taekwondo Asian Championships, said before
the duel that she was confident in getting the gold.
Rapatkorn, the only Thai player to attend today's taekwondo
competitions, received warm applause from home fans who kept
cheering her during the event.
However, she fell behind at the beginning to her Spanish rival
Leire Herboso and failed to get it back. She was beaten 2-0 and
looked quite depressed after the match.
Nataphol Teepsuwan, secretary general of the Taekwondo
Association of Thailand, said the Thai taekwondo delegation has set
its goal at the Universiade to claim one gold.
"We still have competitive women players in the 47kg and 51kg
categories," he said.
Wang Mengli from China, who had planned to compete in the over
72 category, changed her division into 72 kg to avoid Rapatkorn
Prasopsuk. Wang eased past Magdelena Szczotka from Canada in the
first round.
(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2007)