The Thais ended their most successful year in style by winning their first ever world title in Huelva, Spain, on Sunday (Dec 19), reports the Bangkok Post.
The world No.1 pair claimed their fifth successive title - and eighth this year - after beating Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino in the final showdown at the 2021 BWF World Championships.
“Our target for next year is to win a medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China,” said Dechapol, who is affectionately called Bas by Thai media and his fans.
Sapsiree said: “We are very happy with this year, and thankful to our fans.
“We have played so many events and the key was to recover quickly after every match and get sufficient rest.
“Today [Sunday] we were able to keep up the attack throughout the match.
“We just talked a lot with each other before and during the match. We had to maintain our mental and physical level.
“Our target was to make the semi-finals of every tournament. We were tired after Bali but tried to get as much rest as possible.”
The duo won three successive tournaments held in three consecutive weeks on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali and had just a week’s rest before the World Championships.
“We tried to eat and sleep properly,” said Sapsiree, who is nicknamed Popor.
The pair, who were runners-up at the 2019 World Championships, played nine tournaments this year and failed to reach the final only once - at the Olympics.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha heaped praise on the shuttlers.
He also thanked the duo for giving their compatriots happiness and a ‘New Year gift’, according to government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.
“Their success is like a New Year present for Thai people and Thai sports fans,” he quoted Gen Prayut as saying.
The prime minister also said the pair are the pride of the country and a good example for their young compatriots.