Pongsakorn aims for second gold in Paris

Pongsakorn aims for second gold in Paris
Paris: Wheelchair racer Pongsakorn Paeyo will be bidding to win his second gold medal at the Paris Paralympic Games as he defends his men's 100m T53 title on Wednesday.
Pongsakorn, who won gold in the discipline at Tokyo 2020, earned the first Paris gold for Thailand on Sunday after he won the men's 400m T53 race, completing a hat-trick of titles in the event.
Athiwat Paeng-Nuea will also defend his 100m T54 title on Wednesday in another busy day of para athletics action at the Stade de France.
Athiwat claimed a silver medal in the men's 400m T54 event on Sunday, repeating his Tokyo 2020 effort.
In Tuesday's early action, para table tennis player Yuttajak Glinbancheun defeated China's Zhai Xiang 3-0 to progress to the semi-finals of the men's singles MS3 event.
The semi-finals and the final will take place on Thursday.
Yuttajak is chasing his third medal of the Games, having already won silver in the mixed doubles XD7 with Wijittra Jaion and bronze in the men's doubles MD8 event with Wanchai Chaiwut.
On Monday, Brazilian swimmer Gabrielzinho won a remarkable third Paralympic swimming gold while Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Games.
All eyes were on the pool at La Defense Arena to see 22-year-old Gabrielzinho complete a golden treble with victory in the 200 metres freestyle S2 final.
Gabrielzinho, who has no arms or hands and whose legs are severely atrophied, clocked 3min 58.92sec ahead of neutral athlete Vladimir Danilenko.
The third gold for the Brazilian, whose full name is Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo, follows his successes in the 100m backstroke and 50m backstroke.
In another outstanding swimming feat, Belarusian Ihar Boki won the 20th Paralympic gold of his career by winning the 50m freestyle for the visually impaired.
On the track at the Stade de France, 50-year-old transgender sprinter Petrillo finished second in her heat of the T12 400m for the visually impaired, qualifying for the semi-finals.
But that proved a step too far and the Italian was eliminated despite running a personal best 57.58sec as she placed third and outside the places for the final.
In the wheelchair rugby final, Japan beat three-time champions the USA 48-41 to claim their first Paralympics title.
Katsuya Hashimoto scored 19 tries for Japan, who had secured bronze in the past two Games. bangkok post/afp