Controversial scoring fails to deter Thai ace
Taekwondo star Panipak Wongpattanakit secured the first gold medal of the Hangzhou Asian Games for Thailand, defeating China’s Guo Qing in the women’s 49kg final packed with drama and a dose of controversy yesterday.
The 26-year-old from Surat Thani rallied from 6-0 down in the final round to beat the home athlete 12-9 for a 2-1 win.
The top-seeded Thai had won the first round 7-6 and Guo took the second 2-1.
In the third round, the second-seeded Chinese raced to a 6-0 lead when suddenly the score soared to 23-0 in favour of Guo.
The Thai team then protested and after a lengthy review the fight resumed with the Chinese leading 6-0.
With about one minute remaining after the restart, Panipak landed four consecutive head kicks for a 12-6 advantage to effectively…
