Panipak Wongpattanakit Thursday made up for some of her recent heartbreaks in a big way when she helped the Thai taekwondo squad pick up their second 2018 Asian Games gold to surpass the team's target for the quadrennial tournament.
Her triumph was a tonic for the Thai contingent which suffered another major disappointment in weightlifting.
Sukanya Srisurat, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games gold medallist, had to be content with silver in women's 58kg event after being totally eclipsed by Kuo Hsing-chun of Taiwan.
Panipak, who celebrated her 21st birthday on Aug 8, failed in her attempt to complete a hat-trick of Asian titles in Vietnam in May this year.
Nicknamed "Tennis", the Surat Thani native was also a favourite to win the gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but had to settle for a bronze.
Despite her shock first-round exit at the Vietnam event, Panipak was seen as a gold medal favourite at the 2018 Asian Games and she did not disappoint.
On the final day of the taekwondo tournament at Jakarta Palembang 2018, Panipak, the top-ranked fighter in the world in the women's 49kg class, overwhelmed Nahid Kiyanichandeh of Iran 11-6 in the semi-finals.
The Thai ace was in a devastating mood when she took on Uzbek teenager Madinabonu Mannopova in the title showdown, outclassing her opponent 21-3 with consummate ease.
"In the previous Asian Games, I only got a bronze. When I returned home, I cried. I was disappointed and sad," Panipak said.
She said that after the setback at Incheon 2014, she trained very hard.
"I even ran on the mountain only to be kicked by opponents," she said jokingly.
"The gold medal is a [belated] birthday present for myself. It's worth my four-year wait."
She praised her team members including coach Choi Young-Seok for their help.
The taekwondo team had targeted only one gold medal in Indonesia but claimed two titles after their win in the women's poomsae (dance) team event on Sunday.
In weightlifting, Sukanya managed 103kg in snatch on her third visit to the dais that left her two kilogrammes behind Kuo.
As the clean and jerk battle got underway, Sukanya first lifted 117kg. She improved it to 121kg on her second attempt and eventually signed off with a 123kg for a total of 226kg.
However, Sukanya's joy was shortlived as Kuo heaved a remarkable 125kg on first her attempt to shatter the Thai Olympic hero's dream of bagging her first Asian Games gold medal.
Kuo then fought off tears as she walked off the stage after succeeding at lifting 130kg on her second attempt for a 235kg total. Mikiko Andoh of Japan took the bronze with an aggregate of 218kg.
On Thursday, Sukanya was a good 14kg short of her 240kg total that won her the gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
In the men's 77kg class, Chinnawong Chatuphum lifted 187kg for bronze.
North Korea's Choe Jon-Wi managed a massive 347kg total to beat South Korea's Kim Woo-Jae (340kg).
The Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association aims to win a gold medal at the 18th Asiad but the target doesn't look achievable now as its best athletes have already competed without a single gold.
Meanwhile, Nunnapat Puchong did not let her massive lead in the women's paragliding individual accuracy event slip from her hand to claim Thailand's second gold in the newly introduced discipline Thursday.
The Thai paraglider won the event with 22 points, finishing ahead of South Korea's Lee Da-Gyeom and Rika Wijayanti of the host country.
It was Nunnapat's second gold of the Games after leading the three-strong Thai squad to success in the women's team accuracy event at Gunung Mas in Bogor, West Java on Wednesday.
In the men's category, Jirasak Witeetham captured the silver in the individual accuracy competition with Jafro Megawanto of Indonesia taking home the gold.
Two Thai riders clocked the same time as the winner of the men's 150km individual road race of the cycling event Thursday, but only Navuti Liphongyu was handed the bronze after a photo finish.
Alexey Lutsenko of Kazakhstan won the race by a whisker after clocking three hours, 25 minutes and 25 seconds, beating Fumiyuki Beppu of Japan to second place. Peerapol Chawchiangkwang of Thailand came in fourth.
In kayak slalom of canoeing, Thailand's Hermann Ludwig Husslein took the men's bronze, while Atcharaporn Duanglawa took the third place in the women's competition.
Wushu expert Suchaya Bualuang also added a bronze to the tally by finishing third in women's 60kg sanda contest.
In tennis, fifth seeds Luksika Kumkhum and Sanchai Ratiwatana are guaranteed of a bronze medal after they reached the mixed doubles semi-finals on Thursday.
The Thai pair defeated Zhang Lin and Pak Long Yeung of Hong Kong 7-5, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
In badminton, Ratchanok Intanon and Nitchaon Jindapol advanced to the last 16 of the women's singles.
Fourth seed Ratchanok cruised past Jessica Gurung of Nepal 21-7, 21-4 while Nitchaon survived a test against Pai Yu-po of Taiwan 21-15, 22-20.
In golf, Atthaya Thitikul shot a two-under-par 70 and trailed leader Ayaka Furue (67) of Japan by three shots in the women's individual event.
In the men's individual event, Sadom Kaewkanjana (70) was two shots behind Keita Nakajima of Japan at the Pondok Indah Golf and Country Club.
In the team competitions, the Thai men shot a combined one-under 215 while their women's counterparts were one-under 143. Both teams were in fourth place, seven shots behind leaders Japan.
In volleyball, the Thai women's team pulled off a major upset in their second Group A game, blanking arch rivals Japan 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-20) last night.
Thailand earlier beat the Philippines 3-0 in their first group match on Sunday.
