30 July 2021: Southpaw Sudaporn Seesondee has vowed to put up the fight of her life to guarantee at least an Olympic bronze medal by beating Caroline Dubois of Great Britain in the 60kg women’s boxing next week.
The 2018 World Championships silver medalist from Udon Thani produced a masterful performance to beat Simranjit Kaur of India, bronze medalist at the 2018 World Championships, 5-0 in the second round on Friday. She is the third Thai to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 after Chatchai-Decha Butdee and Jutamas Jitpong.
“I felt more relaxed than in the first round. I no longer felt stiff like in the opening round and I could deliver my punches freely,” said Sudaporn, who claimed the Asian Games silver medal for Thailand in the Jakarta 2018 edition.
Sudaporn is now determined to win her next bout on Tuesday against 2018 Youth Olympics and World Youth Championships victor Dubois, who upset 2019 World Championships bronze medalist Ellis Rashida of the US 3-0. If she clears this hurdle, Sudaporn will be guaranteed at least a bronze medal and become the first female boxer from Thailand to stand on an Olympic podium.
“It’s good that I don’t have to fight the American boxer. As for the British boxer, she has good straight punches. I need to be prepared for that and take the initiative,” the Thai said.
A semi-final spot in the Olympics will also earn her a position as a civil servant in the Royal Thai Navy.
“The stakes are high for me in the next match. A win will earn me not only a bronze but also the job in the Royal Thai Navy for which I have been waiting for 12 years. I will do everything I can to make my dream come true and I hope to get support from the Thai people,” said Sudaporn, who as usual will call her mother, Rueng, before the fight for moral support.
“My mother can barely watch my fights because she gets too excited. She told me to make sure I concentrate.”
On Sunday, Sudaporn’s two compatriots will be the first Thais to roll the dice in boxing quarter-finals. In the men’s 57kg, Chatchai-Decha will box for a podium place against three-time World Championships winner Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba while Jutamas will fight Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey, the 2019 World Championships silver medalist and 2019 European Championships gold medalist, in the women’s 51 kg.
In shooting, no Thais reserved a spot in the women’s 25m air pistol final at the Asaka Shooting Range. Tanyaporn Prucksakorn fired a combined 583 points from the precision and rapid shoots to settle in 10th place and just miss the cut-off at 584 points. Naphaswan Yangpaiboon shot 580 to finish 17th.
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