Thai Surfing Team Begins Training at Asian Games Venue After Weather Delays

Nagoya: The Thai surfing team has completed its first practice session in the sea at the actual competition venue, after previously facing poor weather conditions, in preparation for the 20th Asian Games. According to Thai News Agency, the Thai national windsurfing team, preparing for the 20th Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya City, Japan, departed for Japan on the night of September 8th, 2026. The first group included Siriporn Kaewduangngam ("Dao"), a female IQ Foil athlete in the general category, Chanatkarn Charoensuk ("Cake"), a female IQ Foil athlete under 19 years old, coach Nattapong Pothinoparat, and sports scientist Sompop Sakondee. The team has arrived for pre-competition training and is staying in rented accommodations, with plans to move into the Athletes' Village on September 23rd, 2026. The competition will take place from September 26th to October 3rd, 2026, with four gold medals up for grabs in windsurfing. Recently, Phatthana Boonsawat, Secretary-General of the Windsurfing Associat ion of Thailand, reported receiving an update from "Coach Oat" about the team's initial challenges. Upon arrival in Japan, the athletes faced unfavorable weather conditions with persistent rain and light winds, limiting their training to land-based exercises to maintain physical fitness. It was only on September 13, 2026, when the weather conditions improved, that the athletes could train in the sea, the actual competition venue, for the first time. Overall, the athletes are now considered fully prepared. Meanwhile, late on September 13, 2026, William McMillan, a Thai-Australian athlete in the men's open category IQ Foil, Wachirawit Than-up, a male IQ Foil athlete in the under-19 category, and coach Sakda Sakulfaeng departed from Thailand on Thai Airways flight TG 644 to join the team. At the previous Asian Games, held in Hangzhou, China, the Thai windsurfing team achieved significant success in Ningbo, winning a total of three medals: one gold, one silver, and one bronze. Siriporn Kaewduangngam secured the gold medal in the women's RSX category, having previously won two bronze medals in 2014 and 2018. Nattapong Pothinoparat claimed the silver medal in the men's RSX category, while Athicha Homraruen earned the bronze in the women's IQ Foil general category.