Newly crowned world champion Banlung Tubtimdang returned home after his gold-winning performance at the World Taekwondo Championships in Wuxi, China, this week.
Accompanied by coach Choi Young-Seok, Banlung arrived back from the championships on Saturday following his victory in the men’s 68kg event, where he defeated Korea’s Seong Yuh-Yeon 2-0 in the final.
With the triumph, Banlung became the sixth Thai athlete to capture a world taekwondo title.
The past Thai world champions in taekwondo are Chatchawal Kaola-or (men’s 54kg) and Rangsiya Nisaisom (women’s 62kg) in 2011, Chanatip Sonkham (women’s 49kg) in 2013, Panipak Wongpattanakit (women’s 46kg) in 2015, and Panipak (women’s 49kg) together with Pannapa Harnsujitr (women’s 57kg) in 2019.
Reflecting on his victory in Wuxi 2025, Banlung said: “Two years ago [at the 2023 world championships in Baku] I was a runner-up, so this time my target was to win gold. I’m very happy I finally won it. This medal is for the Thai people. After this, I will focus on the SEA Games and try to win the gold medal again.”
Pimol Srivikorn, president of the Taekwondo Association of Thailand (TAT), hailed Banlung’s achievement, saying his victory at the Wuxi championships was even harder than winning an Olympic gold medal.
“The world championships is a very tough competition as it features top athletes from all over the world. Banlung competed in six rounds before winning the gold medal, while it takes only four rounds to win at the Olympic Games,” said Pimol, who is also president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand (NOCT).
“There is a World Grand Prix tournament between Nov 20-23 in Thailand, but it is up to coach Choi Young-Seok to decide who will take part. Banlung needs to take a rest to maintain his physical condition before he starts training for the SEA Games,” he added.
Coach Choi said: “The men’s team did very well. The world championships have become a much tougher competition because athletes from other countries have improved a lot.
“The athletes will prepare for the upcoming World Grand Prix and then the SEA Games. We will send senior athletes to compete in all SEA Games events,” he added.