Thai sprinter passed the finishing line in  1.57:50 hours, followed by Kajihara Yumi of Japan National Team and Kim Hyunji from Korea National Team.

The national cyclist who earlier this year won her first ever Tour of Thailand in Chiang Mai earned the  yellow jersey as the leader of the 73.05km first stage which ran from Trat City Hall – Ban Laem Klat – Trat City Hall.

The former Asian Games gold medallist Jutatip also dominated the spring leader and the best Asean rider categories which awarded her the blue and green jerseys respectively.

The 2nd stage on Saturday will cover a distance of 92.60 kilometers and will start and finish at the Trat City Hall.

Alisson will be making his first appearance in the final of Europe’s elite club competition when the Reds face their Premier League rivals in Madrid on June 1.

The Brazil international reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, only for Liverpool to beat his Roma team prior to his move to Anfield.

Alisson has enjoyed a memorable first season with Liverpool, but their frustrating Premier League title failure — they finished one point behind champions Manchester City — means they will end the season with no silverware unless they beat Tottenham.

Success in Spain would bring Liverpool their sixth European Cup and first since 2005.

It is challenge Alisson believes ranks as the most significant of his career.

“Once we finished the Premier League, there were 20 days to prepare the final,” Alisson told Liverpool’s website.

“I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to playing this big game. It’s maybe the biggest game in my life.”

Jurgen Klopp’s squad are coming to the end of a week-long training camp in Marbella, with the players going through a mini pre-season programme in order to retain their sharpness with a three-week spell between competitive matches.

Klopp did a similar move last year ahead of their Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid and Alisson believes it is the best option.

“It’s good for preparation, it’s good for us to keep our minds free from external things,” he added.

“Coming here is special for us, we can have more time together and speak more – that’s important for a team that wants to achieve great things.

“It’s nice weather – perfect weather to work. It’s a bit hot compared to what we are used to for training but it’s the weather we’ll find in Madrid, so it’s good for us.”

Alisson’s first season on Merseyside has featured 26 clean sheets, with 21 of those coming in the Premier League to earn him the Golden Glove award.

“It was such an honour, such a big award in the world of football,” he said.

“The award is not just mine, it’s an award for my team-mates also, who work hard to keep clean sheets in the game. It’s a target for everyone.”

Thailand, spearheaded by former world No 1 Ratchanok Intanon and the in-form mixed doubles pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, made the whole country proud on Thursday by knocking out defending champions South Korea in the quarter-finals 4-1.

They have already achieved their initial target of reaching the knockout stages so anything else will be a bonus.

They will head into Saturday’s tie as the underdogs against a star-studded Chinese team which includes 2016 Olympic men’s singles champion Chen Long, 2019 All England women’s singles victor Chen Yufei and 2017 women’s doubles winners Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan.

“The key that’s made us come this far is because we are very solid as a team,” said Thailand’s Indonesian coach Rexy Mainaky, himself a former Olympics doubles gold medallist. “The players never consider themselves superstars –they view every player as being the same. They can all wins and lose points.”

It is Thailand’s third appearance in the Sudirman Cup semi-finals, the first being in 2013 and the second two years ago.

Mainaky admitted that even he had been surprised at his side’s triumph over the reigning champions.

“We come here with high expectations and with the good spirits of the team. So we deserve to reach this stage. Of course I was surprised and so was the world,” said Mainaky who said the support of Thai badminton chief Khun Ying Patama Leeswadtrakul at courtside had been an extra boost for the players.

Patapol Ngernsrisuk, the coach of Ratchanok and in China to assist Mainaky, said they would discuss the best line-up to cause an upset.

“In reality, we are maybe the underdogs but we will give a hard fight. Our line-ups won’t make things easy for them,” Patapol said.

Mixed doubles specialist Sapsiree, who upset world No 1 Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China in April’s Singapore Open, hopes that she and Dechapol will be inspired from that win to cause another upset.

“We are all determined to fight hard. Sticking to the game plan is what we have to focus first,” Sapsiree said.

Thailand qualified for the knockout stages as group runners-up, with one win over Russia and one loss to Japan.

They started the quarter-finals in style when Dechapol and Sapsiree won the opening rubber against over Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yujung 21-18 21-18.

Then world No 18 Kantaphon Wancharoen extended the Thai lead to 2-0, powering past Heo Kwang Hee 21-17 21-17.

South Korea struck back in the men’s doubles when Min Hyuk Kang and Kim Won Ho bounced back from the opening-game defeat to beat Tinn Isriyanet and Kittinupong Kerden 19-21 21-17 21-14.

Former world champion Ratchanok Intanon clinched victory by defeating New Zealand Open champion Se Young An 21-15 21-17.

The 32-year-old forward from Chon Buri province will lead the line for the first of three matches to prepare them for the quadrennial football extravaganza, which begins on June 7.

Kanjana who has represented the senior team since 2009, says she and her teammates are determined not to lose to the powerful French, who finished fourth at the 2011 World Cup in Germany and the quarter-finals in Canada four years ago.

“We don’t want to lose,” said Kanjana, also a member of the 2013 SEA Games gold medal team. “We want to have a good time out there but also to put up a great fight. If possible, I want to score a goal too.”

The Thai women spent all week focusing on defence and counter-attack, with coach Nuengruethai Sathongwien pushing her side to brace themselves for an onslaught from the hosts.

“We are a bit under pressure as France is a world-class team,” Kanjana admitted. “We’ve never played them before so this will serve as a good opportunity to learn from a team at that level.

“We have to play as solid as possible and stick to the coach’s game plan.”

Thailand’s only previous World Cup appearance was in 2015, when they did not survive the group stage. They managed one win, 3-2 over Ivory Coast, but lost 4-0 to both Norway and Germany.

“We are ready physically and tactically. Even our game plan is on the defensive approach, we won’t hesitate to counter attack if opportunities come,” Kanjana said.

After Saturday’s games, Thailand will complete their World Cup build-up against Belgium on June 1 and Kontich FC in Belgium on June 4.

Their first World Cup game could not be tougher – they face the United States, the defending champions, on June 11. The Americans are odds-on favourites to retain their crown and if they do so they will become the first country to win the event four times.

Second seed Nadal is chasing a 12th title in Paris while 2009 champion Federer, seeded three, is playing in the tournament for the first time since 2015.

Nadal starts against qualifiers in the first two rounds while 37-year-old Federer, bidding to become the oldest Grand Slam title winner of all time, faces Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, ranked at 73.

Top seed and world number one Novak Djokovic starts his campaign against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the world number 43.

Djokovic, the 2016 champion, is bidding to become only the second man in history to hold all four Slams at the same time.

Only Rod Laver, who swept to calendar Slams in 1962 and 1969, has previously achieved the feat.

If the seedings work out for the quarter-finals, then 15-time major winner Djokovic would face Germany’s Alexander Zverev who has still to get past the last eight at a Slam.

Fourth seed Dominic Thiem, the 2018 runner-up to Nadal, would face Argentine eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro while Federer would meet Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek who stunned him at the Australian Open in January.

Nadal, who won his first title of 2019 in Rome last weekend against a weary Djokovic, is seeded to face Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the last-eight.

In the women’s draw, top seed Naomi Osaka, bidding for a third successive Grand Slam title, opens against world 92 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia.

However, either 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko or two-time major winner and ex-world number one Victoria Azarenka await in a tricky second round for the 21-year-old Japanese star.

Three-time champion Serena Williams, chasing a record-equalling 24th major, begins against Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia.

Williams, seeded 10, has played just one clay court match this year. She could face Osaka in the quarter-finals in a rematch of their stormy 2018 US Open final where the Japanese star triumphed while the American suffered a spectacular meltdown.

Defending champion Simona Halep, seeded three, plays Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in her first round match.

Venus Williams, unseeded this year, begins against ninth seed Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine.

Williams, 38, down at 52 in the world rankings, was runner-up to Serena in 2002.

Second seed Karolina Pliskova, the champion in Rome last weekend, starts against Madison Brengle of the United States.

If the seedings prove an accurate indicator, Osaka would face Australia’s Ashleigh Barty in the quarter-finals, Halep would meet two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 2018 runner-up Sloane Stephens would tackle Madrid champion Kiki Bertens while Angelique Kerber of Germany would be Pliskova’s last-eight rival.

Kerber is attempting to complete the career Grand Slam with a French Open title.

 The Kingdom’s squad lost the final match of the opening week 20-25 20-25 13-25 to the 2003 and 2005 European champion, which was their second straight defeat after going down to Italy 0-3 on Wednesday.

Thailand, with just a win over Germany this week, will head to Macau for Pool 7’s actions which start on Tuesday. China, South Korea, and Belgium are also in the pool.

Thailand coach Danai Sriwacharamaytakul says:  “It is really hard to play against a top level opponent like the national team of Poland. The Poles are really tall and that was a huge problem for us. Also their block worked well tonight, so that made a difference. Anyway, we won one game in Poland and we are satisfied. We are happy that we had an opportunity to visit this country and play in front of these fantastic fans. We take only positive memories from Poland.”

Poland coach Jacek Nawrocki says: “We opened this game nervously, because we lost a few points in reception. Later, we started to play well on the net. We played against Thailand before and it gave us some advantage. We had adapted to their style and it was not a big problem for us this time. We played fine under pressure. We missed a few balls in reception and we were not able to attack, but I think it’s still a matter of team integration. We tried many options and later it all started to work well, but this is normal in volleyball. We are happy about these seven points gained during this week, but it’s a pity that we didn’t manage to defeat Italy, because wins are the most important in the VNL.”

Thailand captain Nootsara Tomkom says: “It was a tough match for us, but that’s what we had expected. The Polish players gave a great performance and played really powerful volleyball tonight. We tried to fight, but they were too strong for us. Moreover, the Poles are taller than us, which makes them even more efficient in block. It was their main power and helped them a lot. I think that in a few years Poland can be a top team in world, because they still improve their play and have many young and talented players.”

Pichai, who is also the Olympic Committee of Thailand vice president, said his goal would be to send eight men and five women, the maximum allowed by a country, despite the International Olympic Committee yesterday stripping the International Boxing Association (AIBA) of its right to run the event at Tokyo 2020.

Pichai says that during the last year’s Youth Olympic Games in Argentina, where boxing event was not run by AIBA, there was no problem because athletes and officials were satisfied with the organisation of the event and the results declared.

World No 4 mixed doubles players Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai led Thailand to a good start with a straight game win over Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yujung 21-18 21-18.

Then world No 18 Kantaphon Wancharoen extended the Thai lead to 2-0 after he powered past Heo Kwang Hee 21-17 21-17 in men’s singles.

But South Korea struck back in the men’s doubles when Min Hyuk Kang and Kim Won Ho bounced back from the first game deficit to beat Tinn Isriyanet and Kittinupong Kerden 19-21 21-17 21-14.

Former world champion Ratchanok Intanon nailed the coffin for South Korea by defeating  New Zealand Open champion Se Young An   21-15 21-17.

The Kingdom also reached this stage in 2017 and 2013 which still remain their best results in the world mixed team competition. They will play China on Saturday.

After their opening warm-up against hosts France in Orleans, they then travel to Belgium for a clash with that nation on June 1 and finally take on Kontich FC in the Belgian city of Leuven three days later.

Defence has been the focus of their training at the Stade Lionel Charbonnier pitch this week and Nungruethai says they need to brace themselves for the high pressing game they can expect from the World Cup hosts, who reached the quarter-finals in Canada in 2015.

“We’ve focused on our game plan against France, which is to prepare for a possible variety of attacking tactics from them,” said Nungruethai during a break in training.

“It’s very necessary that we cover our zone well.”

Nungruethai, who was also the national coach in Thailand’s World Cup debut four years ago, has warned her players to take good care of themselves and stay injury-free ahead of the biggest competition of their careers.

 Nungruethai Srathongwien

“They need to be careful as the condition of the pitch [at the training venue] is not good and the last thing we need is for our players to get injured when we have such tough matches ahead,” she added.

Defender Warunee Phetwiset says facing France will serve as a good preparation for their daunting World Cup opener against the United States as both teams play a similar offensive style.

However, she says while defence has been the priority, they won’t be entirely passive on Saturday.

“We have been focusing on our defence but that doesn’t mean we won’t counter attack,” said the 28-year-old from Chonburi. “Also, several young girls in the team will be taking this opportunity to learn from France and shape things up for the real game with the US.”

Thailand have been drawn in World Cup group F along with defending champions USA plus Chile and Sweden.

They kick off their campaign with the US at the Stade Auguste-Delaude in Reims on June 11.

The US is odds-on favourites to retain their title – if they do so they will also be lifting the trophy for a record fourth time.

However, a returning Roger Federer and rejuvenated Rafael Nadal will once again stand in his way.

World number one Djokovic completed his first private stranglehold of all four Slams with victory at Roland Garros in 2016.

Having clinched the 2018 Wimbledon and US Open titles and then a seventh Australian Open crown in January this year, the Serb is tantalisingly close to another ‘Djoko Slam’.

Federer and Nadal, with 20 and 17 career Grand Slam titles each respectively, may be ahead of 15-time major winner Djokovic in total hauls and have also completed career Slams.

However, not even Federer or Nadal have managed to hold all four of the sport’s greatest prizes at the same time.

It is such a rare feat that only Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) — all calendar Grand Slams — have pulled off the sweep in the sport’s history.

Djokovic, who turned 32 on Wednesday, is playing down his potential date with destiny even if it would put him halfway to a 2019 calendar Slam of his own.

After losing to Nadal in the Italian Open final last weekend, the Serb was in no doubt that it was the Spaniard who would likely be celebrating a 12th Roland Garros title in a little over two weeks’ time.

“Nadal, number one favourite, without a doubt — then everyone else,” he said.

Djokovic, who will be top seed in Thursday’s draw, could be forgiven his caution.

At Roland Garros in 2018, he was shocked by Italian journeyman Marco Cecchinato in the quarter-finals, a defeat which was such a crushing bodyblow that he even contemplated skipping Wimbledon.

Federer is returning to Roland Garros for the first time since 2015 having turned his back on clay court tennis to focus on Wimbledon.

– 10th anniversary –

This year marks the 10th anniversary of his one and only Paris triumph and should the 37-year-old defy the odds and clinch the 2019 title he would become the oldest Grand Slam champion of all time.

Age hasn’t dimmed his ability with Federer saving match points to beat Gael Monfils in Madrid and in Rome against Borna Coric as he found his feet again on European red clay.

“It’s been interesting and fun, but not so challenging, to be honest,” said Federer despite his Rome campaign being cut short by a leg injury.

Nadal, whose record at Roland Garros stands at a staggering 11 titles and a win-loss record of 86-2, claimed a ninth Italian Open title and a record 34th Masters on Sunday.

His three-set win over Djokovic was timely as it was his first title of 2019 and had followed three successive semi-final losses at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.

The last two of those were against Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas, both of whom play with a one-handed backhand, just like Federer.

Thiem, the 2018 runner-up to Nadal at Roland Garros, has defeated the Spaniard four times on clay.

“There is a new wave coming through with the one-handed backhand that can counter some of Rafa’s spins and lefty play,” said Federer, a four-time runner-up in Paris.

Outside of Djokovic and Federer, world number four Thiem and sixth-ranked Tsitsipas are the most likely candidates to dethrone Nadal.

The same cannot be said for Germany’s Alexander Zverev, for so long touted as the brightest star of the so-called ‘Next Gen’.

The German’s run to the quarter-finals last year remains his best Slam performance while he has yet to get beyond the last eight at any of the European clay events in the run-up to Paris.

“He has lost his self-confidence, he gets very angry, gets down and destroys himself,” said compatriot Tommy Haas, a former world number two.

“What he urgently needs is a success.”