Thai football has a new boss and the national side, under new coach Matasada Ishii, will vie for the continental crown, reports the Bangkok Post.
Olympic hopefuls
Taekwondo star Panipak Wongpattanakit was Thailand’s only champion at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and she will again be the country’s best bet at Paris 2024.
It will be the Surat Thani native’s last Olympics and she is aiming to end her career on a high note.
Nicknamed ‘Tennis,’ Panipak, who won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has been the top-ranked fighter in the 49kg division for many years.
The 26-year-old won her second Asian Games gold medal in Hangzhou last year after defeating China’s Guo Qing in the final.
In badminton, world No.7 Kunlavut Vitidsarn could become Thailand’s first ever Olympic medallist in the sport at Paris.
Kunlavut, 22, became the country’s first ever men’s singles world champion in badminton after beating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the title match.
Weightlifting is Thailand’s most successful event at the Olympics with five gold medals.
The team will return to the Olympics after they were banned from competing at the 2020 Tokyo Games due to doping cases.
But it seems they do not have a star good enough to win gold at Paris.
Weeraphon Wichuma could be a contender for a medal at the 2024 Games after winning silver in the men’s 73kg class at the 2023 Asian Games.
He also won two gold and one silver medals at the 2022 world championships.
Several Thai boxers have qualified for the Paris Games although none is seen as a gold medal contender.
Asian Cup in Qatar
The Thai national football team will take part in the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar from Jan 12-Feb 10.
It will be Ishii’s first tournament after being appointed coach of Thailand last month.
The War Elephants are in Group F with Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan and Oman.
With the six group winners plus four best runners-up reaching the next round, Thailand have a considerable chance of getting past the group stage.
Thailand’s results could determine the Japanese coach’s future as coach of the War Elephants.
Meanwhile, four candidates - Nualphan Lamsam, Pauline Ngarmpring, Warong Thiuthas and Tanasak Suraprasert - will contest the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) presidential election on Feb 8.
The winner will succeed incumbent Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang, who will step down on that day.
Nualphan, who is manager of the national team, is seen as favourite to win the post with the backing of a large number of clubs and big names in Thai football.
Unpopular tournament
The sixth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (Aimag) will be held in Bangkok and Chon Buri in November.
Originally scheduled for 2021, the event has been postponed several times due to COVID-19 and other reasons.
The unpopular event was a merger between the Asian Indoor Games and the Asian Martial Arts Games.
Thailand hosted the inaugural edition of the Asian Indoor Games in 2005. The Kingdom also organised the only Asian Martial Arts Games in 2009.
Thai officials hope organising the tournament would help boost the country’s chance of getting the right to stage the Youth Olympics.