Coach to avoid boxing disaster in first round

BEIJING – His coach said Thsomlee Go has a good chance of winning a medal but he must guard against overconfidence as he goes up against young Australian Ryan Carneli in the first round of the flyweight division of the Beijing taekwondo games today.

“I am satisfied with the draw, but we cannot get overconfident because good breaks could go his opponent’s way,” said Filipino coach Raul Samson.

He was referring to what happened to boxer Harry Tañamor, who had the luck of the draw but lost in the first round to African champion Manyo Plange in the light flyweight division of the boxing competitions two weeks ago.

“Just like in the case of Harry, it was a good draw for him but he was eliminated right in the first round,” Samson said.

Korean coach said that while Go is fully equipped to face anybody on his way to a medal, the other Olympic participants had also prepared well, saying upsets are not a remote possibility in the 16-man field where he is rated No. 3.

“All of them are Olympians, they are very strong and will go to the competition with nothing else but a gold on their minds,” said Hong.

His probable quarterfinal opponent is Thai Chutchawal Khawlaor who is competing for the first time in the Olympics as a flyweight. Khawlaor, 19, ruled the finweight division in the 2006 Asian Championships in his home country and finished second in the same division in the 2007 World Championships in Beijing.

Go, 27, has a two-inch height advantage over Carneli and Khawlaor.

The bigger challenge for Go is probable semifinalist Levent Tuncat of Germany, who ruled the European championships in three divisions during the last four years. The 5-8 Tuncat, 20, won in the finweight division in 2005, flyweight class in 2006 and the bantamweight  this year He was a quarterfinalist in the flyweight division of the 2007 World Championships in Beijing.

“My goal in the Olympics is to be on the podium. I don’t only want to participate. I think I’ve trained very hard for it and I think a medal is a realistic goal,”  he said in an interview the other day. “Each opponent will be tough, because these are the Olympic Games and only the very best are here. Each fight will be hard.”

“There are no seedings of any kind. You can meet the Olympic champion in the first round. But this doesn’t matter. You have to be able to fight everyone if you want the gold medal.”

Samson said Go could win a medal if he puts his whose heart into every bout.

“If he performs up to the level we want him to, he’s got a good fight ahead of him. If he wins his first bout, he’ll be more composed for his next bout. So, it’s important he wins the first match,” said Samson.