Thailand won two gold medals, in taekwondo and paragliding, to lift their Asian games tally to six yesterday – but Olympic champion Sukyanya Srisurat had to settle for silver in the women’s weightlifting 58kg division.

She was nowhere near challenging the 2017 world champion Kuo Hsingchun of Taiwan, who lifted a total 235kg, while the Thai’s combined weight was just 226kg.

It means that weightlifting, one of Thailand’s top sports, has yet to yield any gold medals in Jakarta after another Olympic champion, Sopita Tanasan, struggled with a back injury and failed to even secure a podium finish in the 53kg.

In the end it was left to world No 1 Panipak Wongpattanakit to fulfil high expectations – she scored her first Asiad gold by outclassing teenage rival Mandinabonu Mannopova of Uzbekistan 21-3 in the women’s taekwondo 49kg final.

The 20-year-old from Surat Thai has proved untouchable in Indonesia, even in her quarter-final against Kan Bora of South Korea, who beat her at the 2018 Asian Championships in Vietnam.

She was in top form from start to finish, these games confirming her high standing in the sport after a stellar 2017 in which she won almost every tournament she entered, including three World Grand Prix titles, World University Games and SEA Games.

“This is worth all the hard work that I have put in,” said the emotional Panipak – aka “Tennis” –who improved on the 43kg bronze she won at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

“I even had to train with the boys and ask them to keep attacking me during practice to prepare for the bout with Bora in the quarter-final as she would be the toughest one here. I’m so overwhelmed to win and it’s for all the fans back in Thailand,” said Panipak, whose only remaining challenge is the Olympic gold medal – she won bronze at Rio 2016.

2015 World champion Nunnapat Puchong claimed her second Asian Games gold medal in Jakarta, winning the women’s paragliding individual accuracy with a score of 77 points, beating Lee Da Gyeom of South Korea (91) and Rika Wijayanti of Indonesia (120), who took silver and bronze.

The 30-year-old Nunnapat is the first Thai athlete to win two gold medals at these Games, having been part of the team that won on Wednesday.

Her teammate Jirasak Witeetham (47 points) took silver in the men’s individual accuracy, where gold went to Indonesia’s Jafro Megawanto (27) and bronze to South Korea’s Lee Chulsoo (128).

The two golds in taekwondo and paragliding meant Thailand have reaped five in two days and now stand on six golds – the previous four were won by the women’s taekwondo poomsae team, paragliding team accuracy and the men’s and women’s sepak takraw regu teams.

Thailand won several bronzes on Thursday: cyclist Navuti Liphongyu finished third in the men’s 150km road race in Subang; Thai-German rower Hermann Ludwig won the bronze in the men’s kayak singles in Palembang; and Atcharaporn Duanglawa came third in the women’s canoe singles.

Prem Nampratueng and Jaruwat Saensuk also won bronze forThailand in the men’s doubles sculls as did weightlifter Chatuphum Chinnawong in the men’s 77kg.

There was also better news in tennis, after Thailand’s shock early exits in the men’s doubles and women’s singles.

Sonchat Ratiwattana and Luksika Kumkhum secured at least a bronze medal in the mixed doubles after they beat Hong Kong’s Yeung Pak Long and Zhang Ling 7-5 6-3 in the quarter-finals in Palembang. They will face Kazakhs Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Anna Danilina in the semi-finals.

“We’re happy to win the first medal for the Thai tennis team but the mission is not over yet. We hope to go further,” said world No 92 Luksika.

After winning the men’s team regu on Wednesday, the Thai sepak takraw team launched another quest for gold in the men’s team doubles, beating Myanmar 2-1 in a group B preliminary encounter.

The Kingdom’s team which squandered a two set lead and lost in five sets to Japan in the Asian Championship in the Philippines last year and the Volleyball Nation League in Nakhon Ratchasima this year won the match 25-20 27-25 25-20.

It was the second win for Thailand who also trounced the Philippines 3-0 in the first preliminary round on Sunday. Thailand will play Hong Kong on Saturday.

The Olympic bronze medalist proved more superior than her 17-year-old rival in every aspect. She also settled score over South Korean Kan Bora 27-8 in the quarter-final. Kan beat her in the Asian Championships earlier this year.

Panipak, 20, won the second gold medal for the Thai taekwondo team after the women’s poomsae team produced a stunning win on Sunday.

    Kim Hyeok told AFP that his brush with Chung Yoo-ra, the child of a woman jailed alongside former president Park Geun-hye in a massive corruption scandal, had made him tougher at this year’s Asiad in Jakarta.

“It was difficult four years ago because I trained a lot,” Kim, 23, said.

“But I didn’t think about those events today. I am better than four years ago and those events have made me stronger.”

Electronics giant Samsung paid for some 3.65 billion won ($3.25 million) worth of horses and equestrian training for Chung, now 21, in what prosecutors said was an attempt to bribe her powerful mother Choi Soon-sil, a close confidante of the then-president.

The revelations were part of an influence-peddling scandal that rocked the country and toppled ex-president Park.

In qualifiers for the 2014 Asian Games, Chung was selected for the regional Olympics held in her home country but Kim finished in fifth place — and missed out.

Chung made mistakes during qualification but South Korean media reported these were deliberately overlooked.

Chung, known for her lavish lifestyle in Europe, went on to win a gold medal in the team dressage, but did not make the podium in the individual event.

Kim, frustrated at missing out in such murky circumstances, considered quitting.

“I stopped for a month but then I restarted and I have been training very hard since then,” he said after clocking a score of 75.705.

He secured third spot behind Malaysia’s Mahamad Fathil Mohd Qabil Ambak, in silver position with 76.620, and Hong Kong’s Jacqueline Wing Ying Siu, who topped the podium with 77.045.

Kim also picked up a silver medal in the team dressage earlier this week.

Choi — nicknamed “Rasputin” for her influence over the then-president — was found guilty of abuse of power, bribery and interfering in government business earlier this year.

Chung, who herself became caught up in the scandal and was extradited from Denmark, has said she had no knowledge of the “special treatment” she allegedly received.

Wang earned that nickname from Chinese fans and media when she plundered a scarcely believable nine goals in a dizzying 29 minutes after coming off the bench in a 16-0 demolition of Tajikistan on Monday at the Asian Games in Indonesia.

The forward has found the net a total of 11 times, netting in the 7-0 opening victory over Hong Kong and adding a soaring header as China’s women beat formidable North Korea 2-0 on Wednesday to top their group and make the quarter-finals in style.

China’s free-scoring women, yet to concede a goal, are being feted back home and 28-year-old Wang in particular is making headlines for her astonishing prowess in front of goal.

There have been tongue-in-cheek suggestions that she could be the answer to the goal-scoring problems of the Chinese men.

Wang’s sizzling form is all the more surprising because prior to the past week she was hardly prolific, although she did catch eyes by scoring a backheel volley against South Korea last year — the kind of exquisite strike that Messi and Ronaldo would be proud of.

She currently plies her trade in China’s little-noticed domestic women’s league.

“For the past three group matches, Wang Shanshan scored 11 goals and became Chinese women’s football’s talisman,” China’s Tencent Sports said in an online article.

“In more crucial tournaments, Wang Shanshan will become the key player in helping the women’s team win gold.”

Against the North Koreans, midfielder Wang Shuang, who recently signed for Paris Saint-Germain’s women’s team, opened the scoring in the eighth minute, finishing off a fluid passing move.

“China’s women really have the chance to win the gold medal. The team is blessed to have Wang Shuang and Wang Shanshan in this era,” said one fan on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

China’s evening ended on a sour note, however, after substitute Zhao Rong was sent off at the end and coach Jia Xiuquan followed her for complaining to officials.

China’s men play Saudi Arabia in the last 16 on Friday at the Asian Games, although they have struggled for goals in international football in recent times.

The 30-year-old Nunnapat just claimed her first gold medal from the team’s event yesterday.

In the men’s category, Jirasak Witeetham won the silver.

Thailand have won five gold medals (one in taekwondo, 2 in sepak takraw and 2 in paragliding) in the 18^th Asiad.

Second-string lifter O screamed and then wept as he took a surprise gold with a 336kg total (151kg snatch/185kg clean and jerk) on Wednesday after North Korea’s number one Kim Myong Hyok crashed out, failing all three attempts at his opening weight.

“I could not hold back the tears when I climbed on to the top step of the podium to receive the gold medal,” an emotional O told AFP after he sobbed throughout the medal ceremony and national anthem at the JI Expo Arena in Jakarta.

“I was thinking of my motherland, first. But also especially my own mother, who always dreamed of me winning a gold medal in this competition,” he added.

Still fighting to choke back the tears, he told reporters: “I will visit my mother’s grave and give her this gold medal.”

Doston Yokubov of Uzbekistan put in a consistent series of lifts to take advantage of the Korean lapses and secure silver with 331kg (145kg/186kg).

But there was a highly controversial bronze for Izzat Artykov of Kyrgyzstan with 330kg (147kg/183kg), competing in his first event since completing a two-year ban for testing positive for a banned stimulant at the Rio Olympics and being stripped of bronze there.

Local hero Triyatno, who like many Indonesians is known by only one name, failed with a final attempt at 186kg that would have given him silver and came fourth to huge groans of disappointment from a fervent home support.

– Snatch blowout –

The secretive nation’s Kim had started as a heavy favourite but blew it straight away in the snatch to gasps from the large North and South Korean contingents in the capacity 2,000-strong crowd.

Kim’s night was over quickly when he failed three times at his opening 150kg — 10kg below his 2014 Asian Games record.

Kim, for such an accomplished lifter, never looked at ease, his eyes flickering nervously from side to side as he grasped the bar before crumpling on his final attempt.

It was a repeat of the stage fright that afflicted him in the 2016 Rio Olympics when he failed with all three clean and jerk attempts after lying in bronze medal place following a 157kg snatch.

It left the way clear for O, whose best previous result was silver at last year’s Asian championships, to take the early lead with 151kg, from Artykov and Triyatno locked on 147kg and Yokubov 2kg further back.

Artykov was in his first competition since being testing positive for strychnine, better known as a deadly poison but in trace doses classed as a banned stimulant, and he only completed his two-year punishment for that offence on August 9.

South Korea’s hope Won Jeongsik was never comfortable, tumbling dangerously backwards off the platform after collapsing in his failed last snatch attempt.

He eventually got to his feet and dusted himself down, but worse followed when he failed to register a lift in the clean and jerk and was also eliminated.

China’s fabulous five put on a majestic show in the men’s competition to claim the country’s third straight gymnastics gold at the regional Olympics in Jakarta — shortly before the Chinese women made it four.

But Lin Chaopan, who pulled off a gasp-inducing horizontal bar routine, said the final was little more than an internal team exercise.

“It doesn’t prove we are the best because Japan did not send their top team,” Lin, who secured bronze in the team event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, added.

Meanwhile China’s young women overcame stomach upsets to claim the top spot, brushing off challenges from North Korea and Japan.

Qiao Liang, the team’s coach, said he was “very, very touched by the girls’ performance” after they suffered a bout of diarrhoea before the final.

“They had some problems as they are not used to the food here,” he said.

Qiao, a former US gymnastics coach, was mobbed by the five women — which included individual all-around gold medallist Chen Yile — after the victory ceremony, each one placing their medals around his neck.

Chen told journalists she was still very nervous in the final despite her earlier victory, and said the win was “all about teamwork”.

Her team scored an impressive 165.250 to North Korea’s 157.350. Japan totted up 157.150.

– Olympic dreams –

The men’s event was missing several big names, mostly notable Japanese superstar “King Kohei” Uchimura — the 2012 and 2016 Olympic all-around champion.

He is among those not attending the Asian Games ahead of the world championships in Doha in October.

Japan, 2014 Asian Games champions in the team event, had led after the first round following an exquisite floor routine from Fuya Maeno, 22.

“That exercise was my only good one,” a dejected Maeno, the 2016 Doha world cup winner on the horizontal bar, said afterwards.

There were other highlights for Japan including a near-faultless high-speed vault from the nation’s newest talent, teenager Kakeru Tanigawa.

But by the time Xiao Ruoteng of China’s turn came on the horizontal bar — the final performance of the event — the Chinese were almost guaranteed victory.

In the end they grabbed the top spot with 260.950, Japan secured silver with 248.550 and South Korea took bronze with 247.400.

The gold was 22-year-old Lin’s second in Indonesia after he claimed the men’s individual all-around title on Monday.

International Gymnastics Federation President Morinari Watanabe said that it was normal for a country like Japan to conserve their best athletes for the world championships, given Tokyo 2020 is around the corner.

“From this year qualification starts for the Olympic Games so strong countries cannot send their good gymnasts,” he told AFP, claiming that China also did not send their star athletes.

“China is not strong (today), this is second class. Japan too,” he said.

Schooling was a rising star when he won at Incheon 2014 but, returning as one of the region’s premier athletes, he swam a Games-record 51.04sec to beat China’s Li Zhuhao into second place.

Otherwise it was Japan’s night in the Jakarta pool as the 2020 Olympics hosts edged China by four wins to three to draw level at 14 golds apiece at the top of the swimming medals table.

Sun Yang’s bid for a record ninth Games title for China was derailed by Japan in the 4x100m freestyle relay, while Japanese starlet Rikako Ikee’s attempt for a fifth gold in Jakarta was halted by Chinese opposition in the 4x100m mixed medley relay.

At the end of day four, China were leading the overall medals table with 38 golds, ahead of Japan on 20 and South Korea with 11.

Paragliding’s Games debut saw two hair-raising crashes with Afghanistan’s Lida Hozoori and Wang Jianwei of China both helicoptered to hospital.

Hozoori, a TV presenter in Afghanistan, plunged 15 metres (50 feet) to the ground after stalling in mid-air, emergency services said. Team-mates told AFP her injuries were not serious.

Wang suffered a broken leg when his parachute folded 20 metres from the finishing area. Paragliding has come under scrutiny following the death of Hong Kong flier Patrick Chung last month.

– Hockey record –

The crashes came on a day when eight-time Olympic men’s hockey champions India registered their biggest tournament win with a merciless 26-0 thrashing of Hong Kong.

The defending champions broke an 86-year-old record, surpassing their 24-1 victory over the United States at the 1932 Olympics — while Hong Kong didn’t have a single shot on target.

In badminton, former world champion Nozomi Okuhara beat He Bingjiao as Japan downed China 3-1 to win the women’s team title.

But China silenced a baying home crowd when they beat Indonesia 3-1 in the men’s team final.

All-around champion Lin Chaopan led China to an emphatic win over Japan, missing stars such as “King Kohei” Uchimura, in the men’s team gymnastics final.

And Hossein Nouri was swamped by fans after winning the 87kg Greco-Roman category as Iran finished the wrestling as top dogs with five gold medals.

Earlier, South Korean cyclist Na Ah-reum won the women’s road race to claim her second Asian Games gold medal in sweltering conditions near Jakarta.

In temperatures reaching 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit), the 2014 time trial champion crossed the line in 2hr 55min 47sec, 80 seconds ahead of China’s Pu Yixian.

In co-host city Palembang, Rahi Sarnobat became India’s first ever female shooting champion at the Asian Games when she won the 25m air pistol.

Mongolia’s Nandinzaya Gankhuyag shot a Games record 458.8 to win the women’s 50m rifle three positions ahead of defending champion and compatriot Narantuya Chuluunbadrakh.

About 17,000 athletes and officials are taking part in the two-week, 40-sport Games — the biggest sports event in Indonesia’s history.