Thailand’s Korean taekwondo coach aims for gold
Pen-ek Karaket trains under the watchful eye of coach Choi Young Seok.
By Terry Fredrickson
National taekwondo coach Choi Young Seok has had great success turning Thai fighters into world-class medal contenders.
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Thailand’s Korean taekwondo coach aims for gold
Chanatip Sonkham during a training session.
National taekwondo coach Choi Young Seok has had great success turning Thai fighters into world-class medal contenders.
Apart from success at the two previous Olympics, Thailand also won their first gold medals at the Asian Games and world championships.
The only thing missing is an Olympic gold medal and hopes are high this will be the year.
Choi started working with the national team in February 2002 and soon became a household name in Thailand.
Under his guidance, Yaowapa Burapolchai became Thailand's first Olympic medallist in taekwondo when she claimed bronze in the women's 49kg division at the 2004 Athens Games.
Four years later in Beijing, Buttree Puedpong got silver in the same class.
This time Choi is training three Thai fighters for the London Games – Pen-ek Karaket (men's 58kg), Chanatip Sonkham (women's 49kg) and Rangsiya Nisaisom (women's 57kg).
Rangsiya Nisaisom takes a break from training.
With less than two weeks before the 2012 Games begin, Chanatip, Rangsiya and Pen-ek are in great shape, Choi said.
They have improved significantly after the Taekwondo Association of Thailand hired three more Korean coaches to help him.
Choi admits he is feeling the pressure.
"I am definitely under pressure because of high expectations from several parties," said the Korean coach.
"But with my experience in the past two Olympics, I know how to handle it."
"It may be our time to win gold and everybody expects us to achieve that," said Choi.
"But we don't want to say if we will win gold or not. All I can say is we will do our best."
Choi, who speaks fluent Thai, said it was his ultimate dream when he was hired to coach the Thai national team. In fact, he said, his gold medal dream could actually have come true at the previous two Olympics.
"We had chances to win gold in both 2004 and 2008," Choi said.
Adapted from a story by Kittipong Thongsombat in yesterday’s Bangkok Post.
You can read previous article at www.bangkokpost.com/learning/all-article.
Vocabulary
aim – to have as your purpose or goal มีเป้าหมาย มีจุดมุ่งหมาย
medal – a flat piece of metal, usually shaped like a coin, that is given to the winner of a competition or to somebody who has been brave, for example in war เหรียญรางวัล
contender – someone or something who competes with other people or things for a prize คู่ต่อสู้, คู่แข่ง
household name – a person who is very well known in a particular area
guidance – help and advice about how to do something or about how to deal with problems การแนะแนว, การแนะนำ
claim – to win something มีชัยชนะ
bronze – a dark reddish-brown metal made by mixing copper and tin ทองสัมฤทธ์, ทองแดง
shape – fitness; the physical condition of a person or animal, especially how fit, strong, or healthy they are สมรรถภาพทางกาย, ความแข็งแรงของร่างกาย
improve – to get better ดีขึ้น
significantly – in an important way อย่างมีความหมาย, อย่างสำคัญ
hire – to pay someone to work for you, especially for a short time จ้าง
admit – to agree that something is true, especially when you are unhappy, sorry or surprised about it ยอมรับ
pressure – a worried feeling that you get when you have to deal with a difficult or complicated situation ความกดดัน
expectations – the belief that something will happen สิ่งที่คาด คิดว่าจะเกิดขึ้นในอนาคต
party – one of the people or groups of people involved in a situation คู่กรณี
handle – to be able deal with a situation ควบคุมได้, จัดการได้
fluent – able to speak, read or write a language, especially a foreign language, easily and well คล่อง, พูดหรือเขียนได้อย่างคล่องแคล่ว
ultimate – most extreme; best, worst, greatest, most important, etc ที่สุด
