Speed king Puripol smashes into semi-finals

Thailand's sprint sensation Puripol Boonson roared to within a whisker of history on Thursday, becoming the first Thai ever to break 10 seconds on the Asian Games stage, as sepak takraw booked a shot at double gold in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

The Thai camp also had reason to celebrate elsewhere, adding a silver in esports and two bronzes — one from the rowing pool, the other from the weightlifting platform.

Puripol, Thailand's brightest hope for an athletics medal at the Asian Games 2026, blazed into the semi-finals of the men's 100 metres with an electrifying 9.95 seconds in his heat.

The 20-year-old, who became the first Southeast Asian sprinter to crack the 10-second barrier at last year's 33rd Southeast Asian Games, looked in ominous form at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, falling just 0.01sec shy of matching his personal best of 9.94.

Earlier in the day, Thailand's Jirapat Khanonta clocked a personal-best 11.45sec to win the women's 100m second heat and book her place in Friday's semi-finals, finishing 0.14sec clear of home favourite Midori Mikase.

Sukanda Petraksa became the first Thai sprinter at the Games to reach the semi-finals, crossing third in 11.54sec.

Takraw eyes double

The Thai sepak takraw teams will challenge for two gold medals on Friday after both men’s and women’s regu teams advanced to the gold medal matches.

The men’s team will battle it out against eternal rivals Malaysia for their eighth Asian Games title while their women’s counterparts will take on South Korea for the crown.

In the men’s event, the Thais defeated hosts Japan 2-0 in Thursday’s semi-finals while Malaysia edged Indonesia 2-1.

The women’s team also proved too strong for Japan, defeating the home players 2-0 to progress to the final.

South Korea, meanwhile, earned their shot at the gold medal with a 2-0 victory over Indonesia in the other semi-final.

The two golds on offer on Friday are among four targeted by the Thai sepak takraw squad. They are also aiming to win the men’s regu and the women’s quadrant events.

The men’s regu competition will begin on Sunday, with Thailand facing the Philippines and Japan in the Group A preliminary round.

The women’s quadrant action will start on Sept 30 and Thailand will face Vietnam in the Group A opener. The Philippines and India are the other two nations in the group.

Thailand, red, in action against Japan in the sepak takraw men's regu team semi-finals. (Photo: Takraw Association of Thailand)

Esports team bag silver

In esports, the Naraka:Bladepoint team secured silver after falling to China in the final at Aichi Sky Expo, marking Thailand’s first esports medal at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.

The team consisted of Nopparat Pidkwamlab, Wachirawut Changsoi, Jongrak Kampangkaew, Sahawat Phonngam and Kevin Lemoine.

The Thais edged Vietnam in a 3-2 thriller in the semi-finals earlier in the day to advance to the final.

Bronze medals went to Vietnam and Taiwan.

Lifting delivers bronze

In weightlifting, Paris Olympics silver medallist Theerapong Silachai bagged a second medal for the weightlifting squad as he claimed bronze in the men’s 60-kilogramme event.

After failing in his first two attempts in the opening snatch discipline, Theerapong finally hauled 126kg above his head with his third lift before adding 173kg in the clean and jerk to boost his total to 299kg.

The bronze made up for Theerapong’s nightmare at the Hangzhou Games three years ago where his title bid ended early after three failed attempts in the snatch.

The 22-year-old admitted the Hangzhou incident did cross his mind.

“I put too much pressure on myself during the snatch. Because I failed to complete a single snatch lift at the previous Games — which forced me to withdraw — missing my first attempt today brought back the pressure of that past experience. But I regained my composure and managed to pull it off,” said Theerapong.

It was the second medal for the weightlifting team in Nagoya. Surodchana Khambao, another Paris 2024 medallist, claimed the women’s 53kg bronze on Wednesday.

China’s Yang Yang took the gold medal with a 303kg (138+166) total and North Korea’s Pang Un Chol won silver with 301kg (127+174).

Asian Games - Aichi-Nagoya 2026 - Weightlifting - Nagoya City Trade and Industry Centre, Nagoya, Japan - Sept 24, 2026 Gold medallist China's Yang Yang celebrates on the podium after winning the men's 60kg along with silver medallist North Korea's Pang Un Chol and bronze medallist Thailand's Theerapong Silachai. (Photo: Reuters)

Third place for rower

Parisa Chaempudsa had a breakthrough for the Thai rowing team in Nagoya after she placed third in the women’s lightweight single sculls final with a time of 7:40.61. Iran won gold and Hong Kong took silver.

In boxing, Janjaem Suwannapheng displayed dominant form, defeating her Vietnamese opponent Hoang Ngoc Mai 5-0 to advance to the quarter-finals of the women’s 65kg event.

Olympic bronze medallist and SEA (Southeast Asian) Games champion Janjaem utilised her confidence to press the attack, landing clean, decisive punches throughout all three rounds and ultimately securing a unanimous 5-0 decision victory.

She will next face Taiwan’s Chen Nien-chin, who had received a bye in the first round.

Meanwhile, in the women’s 51kg division, 33-year-old Chutamat Raksat — a silver medallist at the Hangzhou Asian Games — faced Uzbekistan’s Feruza Kazakova, an opponent 10 years her junior. Kazakova’s youthful energy proved too much for Chutamat as she cruised to a 5-0 victory, bringing the Thai boxer’s campaign to an end in the opening round.