If we talk about Thai national athletes who have reached the world level, I believe that one of them must be Paradorn Srichaphan, a Thai national tennis player who was ranked No. 9 in the world in the ATP Tour in May 2003 and was also able to win five professional ATP Tour titles and six runner-up showings. He reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and the US Open in 2003, before retiring to become a monk. He is a Thai athlete who has been recognized as a superstar to the point of being nicknamed “Superball”.
Paradorn Srichaphan started as a Thai national athlete in the Davis Cup World Men’s Tennis Championship, then followed by competing in sporting events such as the SEA Games and Asian Games. Paradorn’s name began to gain attention when he won a gold medal in men’s singles tennis in the 19th SEA Games in 1997 in Jakarta, Indonesia, which was the same year he turned professional.
Then in the following year, Thailand was assigned to host the 13th Asian Games or “Bangkok Games”, which of course Paradorn joined the competition as one of the Thai national athletes. And that was the beginning of making history in the Asian Games for Paradorn Srichaphan. What will his story be like? Let’s follow along.
“Srichaphan” family unites to win a historic gold medal
In the 13th Asian Games in 1998, tennis is another sport that is being watched. The highest hope is “Tammy” Tamarin Tanasugarn because she is a professional female tennis player on the WTA Tour who has started to perform excellently. However, another person who is expected to perform well is Paradorn Srichaphan.
Paradorn Srichaphan paired up with his older brother “Narathorn Srichaphan” to compete in the men’s doubles category and performed better than expected when they were able to make it to the final round. They had to face the South Korean national team, Lee Hung Taek and Yoon Young Il, who won the silver medal in the men’s singles category at the 1994 Asian Games. The game was exciting before Paradorn and Narathon Srichaphan won the gold medal.
The gold medal at that time was considered the first gold medal for the Thai national team in the men’s doubles category and the second gold medal in tennis at the Asian Games. Previously, the Thai national team had only won the Asian Games gold medal in the mixed doubles category in 1978.
The first Thai tennis player to win the gold medal in the men’s singles category
The 14th Asian Games in 2002 in Busan, South Korea, Paradorn Srichaphan competed in the men’s singles category. He was an ATP champion. The TD Waterhouse Cup and the runner-up of the TATA Open and Leg Mason Tennis Classic. It can be said that Paradorn’s performance in 2002 was on the rise and was being watched by the world tennis community. It is not surprising that he is the favorite and the hope for the Thai national team to win a gold medal. “Paradorn Srichaphan” received a bye in the first round as the tournament’s seed. In the second round, he will play against “Eduard Coifman” from Kyrgyzstan. And was able to win easily 2-0 sets (6-0, 6-1) as well as in the 3rd round which was the round of 16, Paradorn was able to defeat his opponent “Sergey Makashin” from Tajikistan by a landslide 2-0 sets (6-0, 6-2).
In the quarter-finals or the round of 8, Paradorn Srichaphan met “Lu Yen Sun” from Taiwan who also started to turn pro to play professionally. However, Paradorn used his superior experience to win 6-0, 6-4 and advanced to the semi-finals to meet Oleg Okorodov, a skilled tennis player from Uzbekistan. Both of them fought in an exciting match before the Thai tennis player used his more certainty to win 6-3, 6-3.
In the final round, Paradorn Srichaphan had to play against “Lee Hung Tek” who in the semi-finals was able to defeat Takao Suzuki, a skilled player from Japan. It was a worthy final because they are both ATP Tour tennis players and have reached the podium in professional tournaments. This was also their second meeting in the Asian Games finals, but this time it was in the men’s singles category.
Despite having to compete in the finals amidst the cheers of the home team, Paradorn used his composure and solid play to control the entire game. In the first set, both players played carefully until the tie-break, and Paradorn was able to overtake and win the first set 7-6 (7-3). In the next set, the Thai players performed better and won 6-4. As a result, Paradorn Srichaphan was able to defeat Lee Hung Tek and successfully win the gold medal. This was another historic moment for him in the Asian Games because this was the first gold medal in men’s singles that a Thai national athlete had achieved.
Winning the bronze medal at Doha
After “Pradorn Srichaphan” won 2 Asian Games gold medals, from men’s singles in 2002 and men’s doubles in 1998, he joined the 15th Asian Games in 2006 in Doha, Qatar, but his physical condition was not perfect. He competed in the men’s team category but could not win at all, losing to Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan and Go Soeda from Japan. However, the Thai national team was able to win the bronze medal.
Even though the personal achievements of Paradorn Srichaphan in the 2006 Asian Games were not as many expected, it must be admitted that he has played an important role in the success of the Thai national team for a long time. If Paradorn had been on the field in perfect condition at that time, he might have won 3 gold medals.
And this is the story of “Superball” Paradorn Srichaphan, a world-class Thai tennis player in the role of a Thai national athlete in the Asian Games. 2 gold medals, 1 bronze medal from 3 types of competitions, 3 times, is still a masterpiece that is still legendary to this day.
