The Thai team has been on a tear since the opening day of competition on Wednesday (November 12), defeating all of their opponents, including the Kuwaiti team. In the semi-finals, Thailand put on a clinic against an imposing Chinese team with a 50-13 win on Thursday (November 12).
Despite the fact that only four points separated Kuwait and Thailand in their 40-34 matchup on Wednesday (November 12) afternoon, the Thai team is confident that they will secure a gold medal.
"Team Thailand trained very hard, everyday, for one year and I think we can beat Kuwait again,” said Chantrarotvanich “Junior” Nattapat, a wide receiver on the team. “expect a gold medal. I think we can win it.”
The Thai team is full of players who have played the game – scarcely popular in the Kingdom – for just under a decade.
Three Thai players, like defender Rujanaporn Suppanut, were part of the 2005 Bangmod Wittaya Middle School squad that won the NFL Flag Football World Championship in Beijing, China. There are another two players on the current squad that were part of the Chaopraya Wittayakorn School in Bangkok that made lots of noise at the 2006 championship in Cologne, Germany.
"Many flag football players here have a lot of experience, playing with each other and abroad,” Suppanut said. “We partice everything, we run a lot and do many 1-on-1 drills to help us get flags. Coach Chok (Theerawit Suvanratanamee) thinks a lot about how to play this game better.”