Kaew, Chanatip win Olympic medals

Thailand?s medal count increased as boxer Kaew Pongprayoon and taekwando fighter Chanatip Sonkham won medals yesterday. Kaew still has a chance for the Kingdom?s first gold at London 2012.

Please join us on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning

Kaew's constant tactic in Thursday morning's fight was to go to the Bulgarian's body. REUTERS

Click button to listen to Olympic medals and rightclick to download

Kaew, Chanathip win Olympic medals

Victory means Kaew has at least a bronze medal. REUTERS

LONDON : Light-flyweight Kaew Pongprayoon assured himself of at least a bronze medal in boxing yesterday, while Chanatip Sonkham won bronze in the women's taekwondo 49kg competition, outclassing three opponents and losing by a single point in the semi-finals. 

In boxing, Kaew defeated Bulgarian Aleksandar Aleksandrov on Thursday morning (Thailand time) to advance to the final four of the light flyweight division.

With his win, the Kamphaeng Phet southpaw will fight again Friday evening (Thailand time) for the right to fight for gold 24 hours later.

Fighting from the red corner, Kaew sent the Bulgarian packing with a 16-10 points victory in their three-round fight.

The first round was scored evenly, 3-3 by the five judges at ringside, with both fighters cautious.

Kaew came out fighting harder in Round 2, constantly beating at the Bulgarian's body – and being rewarded with a 6-4 points win, leaving the fight at a still close 9-7 in Kaew's favour heading into the final round.

Round three was more of the same, with the Thai even dominating the increasingly desperate Aleksandrov at times. Kaew won the round 7-3.

Kaew's opponent on Friday (about 7:45pm) will be the Number 3 seed in the tournament, veteran David Ayrapetyan of Russia, who dispatched Ferhat Pehlivan of Turkey 19-11 in the fight immediately preceding the Kaew-Aleksandrov bout.

For Kaew, the Ayrapetyan victory is a minor blessing, since the Russian is actually ranked lower than the other favoured semi-finalists.

Chanatip in action in her narrow 10-9 loss against Brigitte Yague of Spain. REUTERS

Yesterday was a busy and productive day for Thailand's young taekwondo fighter Chanatip Sonkham. She began by convincingly beating Kristina Kim of Russia 13-1 in her preliminary round of the women's taekwondo 49kg competition.

She followed that up with an impressive 6-0 victory over Yang Shu-Chun of Taiwan in her quarter-final match. Then in the semi-final she lost out by a single point to Brigitte Yague of Spain, 10-9.

There was no stopping the fighter from Phattalung in the bronze medal match, however, as she won an easy 8-0 victory over Elizabeth Zamora Gordillo of Guatemala.

On the men's side, however, there was huge disappointment for Thailand's Pen-ek Karaket who lost in the last seconds of extra time to Lee Daehoon of South Korea in the men's 58kg division.

The fighters went to extra time after the score was tied at 7-7 in the three round bout.

The Korean won the match with a sudden death kick with 29 seconds remaining.

Adapted from bangkokpost.com and agency stories

constant – continuous; all the time ต่อเนื่อง
tactic - a planned way of doing something ยุทธวิธี
assured – made certain ทำให้แน่ใจ
outclass – to be much better than someone or something else เหนือกว่า, ดีกว่า
opponent – a person or team being competed against in a sports event คู่ต่อสู้
semi-finals (or semifinals) – the two games that are played immediately before the last game in a sports competition. The two people or teams who win the semifinals play each other in the last game, called the final, to decide who wins the competition  การแข่งขันกีฬารอบรองชนะเลิศ
defeat – to win a victory over someone in a fight, war or competition ชนะ, ปราบ
advance – to move forward, in this case, to the next round of the tournament เข้ารอบ
southpaw – a person who prefers to use their left hand rather than their right, especially in a sport such as boxing คนถนัดมือซ้าย
send packing – to cause someone to leave, in this case, a competition ให้ออก
even – equal เท่ากัน
ringside – the area around the place where a boxing match takes place บริเวณใกล้เวทีมวย
cautious – careful to avoid danger ระมัดระวังไม่ให้เกิดขึ้น
favour – advantage; benefit ความได้เปรียบ
dominate – to control, to be the most important thing ครอบคลุม ควบคุม
desperately – feeling or showing that you have little hope and are ready to do anything without worrying about danger to yourself or others ทิ้งไพ่ตาย, เอาเป็นเอาตาย
seed – a competitor given a place on the list of those expected to win games in a particular competition because of the way they have played in the past ผู้ที่ถูกถูกจัดให้เป็นผู้แข่งขันชั้นนำ
veteran – having a lot of experience doing something อาวุโส
dispatch – to send someone or something somewhere, in this case, to send someone out of a competition by defeating them ส่งคนออกไป
immediately preceding – happening right before something else with no delay มาก่อน, อยู่หน้า, นำหน้า
bout – a boxing, wrestling or taekwando match การแข่งขัน
minor blessing – a small benefit ผลประโยชน์เล็ก ๆ
rank – to put someone or something into a position according to their success, importance, size etc จัดลำดับ
favoured – expected to win
narrow – achieved with difficulty, in a way that shows how close the result was หวุดหวิด
productive – achieving good results ที่ก่อให้เกิดผล
convincingly – clearly; in a way in which someone is able to make you believe that something is true or right อย่างโน้มน้าว
beat – to win over someone; to defeat someone ชนะ
preliminary – an early part of a competition happening before the finals; an event or action that introduces or prepares for something else ขั้นต้น, ขั้นแรก
impressive – something that people admire because it is very good, very large or shows great skill ซึ่งน่าประทับใจ
quarter-final (or quarterfinal) – a competition between two of the last eight competitors remaining in a tournament การแข่งขันก่อนรอบบรองชนะเลิศ
disappointment – the feeling of being unhappy because something that you hoped for or expected did not happen or because someone or something was not as good as you expected ความผิดหวัง
tied – having the same score ได้แต้มหรือคะแนนเท่ากัน, เสมอกัน
sudden death – a way of deciding the winner of a game when the scores are equal at the end. The players or teams continue playing and the game ends as soon as one of them scores